Virtua Fighter 4 Heaven's Gate
by M.A.D1
Summary: A Virtua Fighter 4 fanfic. Her assignment was to protect Sarah Bryant. She goes into her mission not knowing what to expect. But, what she learns and experiences with the Bryants will affect her mind and her heart... New section up! More coming soon.
1. Meetings

Among the SP who protect the VIP of the world, there is a woman with cold eyes and silver hair… her name is Vanessa.  
During her childhood, she was held in the J6 military research facility, where her bodily ability was augmented abnormally. When she was about 10 years old, the military research facility was attacked, and Lewis, an officer of the Special Forces, rescued Vanessa.  
Initially, she was reclusive, but gradually, her heart opened itself to Lewis's warm love and affection.  
But, as she became an adult, her father was murdered in duty, and her heart again closed itself off…  
Years later, she learned that the terrorists who killed her father are targeting the world's VIPs. She joined the SP, a private organization that defends VIPs. Though she handles her work, she continues to search for the perpetrator…  
Later, she learns that the J6 organization is aiming for a woman named "Sarah Bryant." Quickly, the Bryants were informed, and she was dispatched as a guardian…  
  
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The plane was gliding gracefully through the morning sky. As she stared at the ground beneath her, Vanessa's mind wandered, wondering about the newest assignment. She felt an uncomfortable insecurity welling within her, gnawing at the edges of her mind. Was she really prepared to undertake this new operation, which would demand so much from her? She told herself not to ponder such questions. She was a professional, after all… being a guardian was her life's work and her heart's devotion. Still, this assignment wasn't going to be like anything she had ever undertaken before – a long-term project to ensure the safety of an individual and their family who had apparently been consistent targets of underground criminal activity in the past.  
After the briefing, she had done a bit of research into the family history and discovered the suspicion of her superiors seemed very viable. The older brother had been involved in a racing accident that left him near death, upon investigation, it was found that without a doubt, it had been intentionally set up. His younger sister had begun an analysis into the incident, only to vanish mysteriously for a few years. When she was finally found again, her memory had been completely erased. It was theorized that she had been kidnapped by the group responsible for the racing accident, with the intention to program her to kill her other family members. And now, intelligence indicated that she was once again a potential target…   
Yes, Vanessa knew it. She knew they were involved. This was an assignment she absolutely had to do. But, she also knew that this would probably be her most physically and mentally demanding work yet.   
The ground continued to roll endlessly below. As her mind drifted in thought, Vanessa's hand moved up and gently pressed her gray cotton shirt above her chest. She could feel the cold metal of her father's dogtags she was wearing underneath against her skin. Warmth shot through her body as she was reminded of him, followed by a twinge of sadness…  
I'm going to do this for you. I hope you'll be proud of me…  
Her fingers fondled metal through the fabric, grasping at a precious memory eternally dear to her heart.  
I love you… she mouthed silently to herself.  
  
The plane had landed safely. It was a quiet flight, allowing Vanessa the time to take a short nap before the jet landed. She had found sleeping rather difficult recently, worrying about this assignment and what might come of it. Being forced to rest in such a small space had required her to contort herself into a rather uncomfortable position. As a result, her usually lithe figure was now quite stiff and sore.  
Vanessa stepped out of the gate and into the terminal, attempting to stretch out her thick, cramped legs a little as she walked away into the dull roar of the airport crowds. All she had to do now was wait to collect her bags and find the ride that would escort her to the household, then go from there to wherever she would be staying. She quietly observed the people around her, stopping off at the coffee shops for a quick lunch, picking up a paper at the airport newsstand, and stopping to greet those who had been waiting outside for their arrival. She couldn't help but feel a bit sad seeing the loved ones of others rushing to welcome them with open arms…  
A loud, obnoxious buzzer sounded through the terminal, breaking her concentration suddenly and signaling that her bags were available to pickup. Vanessa hastened her walk towards the claim area, where she saw her suitcases of personal items circling through the rotunda. She had only brought enough luggage for a few days' stay with her – the rest would arrive within a few days via freight once she reported back with her location. She didn't know yet how long they expected her to stay around, but it was hinted at that it would be a considerable amount of time. It was still a mystery where exactly she would be staying as well.  
She grabbed her luggage and ran down to the entrance. She spotted a man standing and holding a small sign with "Lewis" written upon it. Her ride, obviously. After exchanging a few short words, her luggage was safely stored in the trunk of the shiny black BMW, and she was being driven to the Bryant estate, located a ways outside of the city.  
Looking outside the window, she saw the buildings passing her by, gradually growing smaller and sparser as they got away from the inner city and into the suburbs, and then out into the countryside. She felt an anxiousness beginning to grow within her.   
Vanessa hoped her feelings would clear up when she met with the family, and got her arrangements straightened out with them. She was a little curious as to what they were like. She had heard of the Bryant name several times in the past, and she knew that they were a family with a long-standing lineage, a strong business history, a position of world prominence, and, obviously, a huge fortune to their name. She didn't know much beyond that, though…  
Eventually a large structure could be seen ahead in the distance, coming closer and closer. Even from a distance, it was an impressive piece of real estate… 3 stories high, stretched out wide, with a huge garden and enclosure surrounding it, as well as a fountain behind its gate and other, smaller structures to the sides of the building. All on a sizable chunk of land just a ways outside the city limits.  
As they pulled up to the large, elegant metal gate, her driver took out a security card and flashed it in front of a small panel off to the side of the road. In a few seconds, the gates had opened for them, allowing them to drive inside. They passed by the fountain as they drove: a tall rock structure decorated with statues of mythical, elaborate sea creatures, sending fountains of liquid cascading down its sides, the bright sunlight of the day refracting off the water. Vanessa was quite impressed.   
The car drove further, into a large, multiple-car garage away from the main building. Her driver pulled in slowly, and then came to a gradual halt. He put the gear into park, pulled out the keys, then turned around to face Vanessa.  
"Your luggage shall be taken care of later, so don't worry about it for now. I will escort you inside, miss." He smiled and climbed outside.  
Vanessa stared back and responded equally politely. "Thank you for your assistance, sir." She quickly followed outside. "Please show me where to go next."  
He lead her down a path, past a large garden, an outdoor poolside area, and a few small buildings that held various equipment. Vanessa noticed how well everything was kempt: the rows of shrubbery were neatly trimmed, the grass was a bright, lively green and cut to an even length throughout, and the concrete walkway was spotless.   
After a few moments walking, they reached the small set of stairs leading up to the doors of the main mansion itself. The large double doors were a lovely, shining ivory white color, with a bright golden frame surrounding them and similarly gold-colored, ornately designed knockers installed towards their top center. They ascended the steps, Vanessa feeling the anxiety beginning to form again. What is making me so nervous about this, anyway? she wondered to herself. Protecting VIPs was something she'd been doing for years now…   
They reached the top of the steps, and now the beautiful doors stood directly in front of them. Vanessa reached up to take ahold of the knocker, but her escort signaled her to do otherwise. Instead, me moved to the right side to the door and pressed a small button.   
"They're just for show," he said, grinning.  
The door was answered within a few seconds. Standing before Vanessa and her escort was a fairly tall, strongly-built blonde-haired man. His short, pure blonde hair was styled distinctly in tufts of small spikes sticking straight upwards. His face and body were very firm and strongly built, and his eyes were a deep, dark shade of blue. He wore a black jacket with various logos and emblems stitched all over it, stretching from one side of his body to the other, and a tough, rather worn-looking pair of jeans. Vanessa was taken by surprise at his appearance – she didn't expect people living in such high-class real estate to be dressed so casually! Was this one of the family members?  
"Um… hello, sir," she stammered, trying to recompose herself a little. "I am looking for the head of this household… a Mr. Bryant?"  
He was looking her over, eyes shifting up and down her body. "Mr. Bryant? Well… if you mean my father, he and mom have retreated to the summer home outside the country, and they are not due to return for months yet. My name is Jacky Bryant, and I am currently in charge of the household." He stared at her shirt and the small badges adorning the light sash she was wearing above it. "I assume from your dress that you are the agent sent to us to assist in our… security matters?"  
She nodded. "Yes, sir." Something about the way he was looking at her made Vanessa feel awkward. She didn't know why exactly – she certainly wasn't a shy sort of person, and was used to people being surprised at a woman presented as a capable guardian.   
"Great! I'm the person you want to speak to then." He stretched out his arm and extended his hand to her. "I'm pleased to meet you, Miss…" He squinted trying to make out the name on her badge.  
"Lewis," she said in assistance, as she took his hand and shook it. "Vanessa Lewis."  
"Miss Vanessa Lewis!" He was staring at her again. Her long, silver hair blowing softly in the wind, with rays of the sun reflecting off its surface and giving it a brilliant luster, was truly an impressive sight. She noticed his stare beginning to drift off a bit, and felt a tad uneasy again, not knowing exactly what was going on with him.  
"Um…Yes… I'm pleased to meet you too, sir."  
Jacky's mind snapped back into place. "Oh, er…" He laughed a little. "You really don't need to call me 'sir', OK? Jacky's my name, and I rather like it, so… I'd prefer you used it." He paused for a second. "Do you mind if I just call you Vanessa?"  
She shook her head. "No, that's perfectly fine."  
She's really formal, Jacky thought to himself. I wonder if that's just because she's nervous from meeting someone for the first time, or if it's a business thing? "Wonderful! Now please, come on in." He put a hand lightly on her shoulder and gestured inside. "We have some business to attend to." He turned his head to her attendant. "I'll show her around from here. Thanks a lot for your help." With that, the attendant departed.  
She walked inside the entrance of the huge estate, with Jacky closing the doors behind her. He took an opportunity to grab another glance at the sun shining through the doors' windows upon her silver hair, which billowed down from her head past the blades of her shoulders. It struck him as very unusual… he had never seen anything like it before. Was that even natural? His vision was constantly drawn to it…  
Vanessa turned her focus around her to the giant hallway she had just entered. The hall itself was spacious, very attractive and designed in contemporary taste. All manner of paintings and photos hung on the walls, with the occasional sculpture piece standing erect upon the floor. Fancy, modern-style furniture also was spread about, with several chairs sofas, and tables available for one who might want to sit down and relax. Atop the tablets sat various plants and candles, adding a bit of extra flair to the surroundings. Decorative ceiling fans and lamps hung from the ceiling above, spinning quietly to themselves. There were several doors and branches off of the main hall that she could see. Somehow, a sense of calm and openness pervaded this passage, easing the initial tension that had amassed within her upon first meeting with the elder Bryant.  
A specific article caught Vanessa's eye – a glass display atop a small table towards the center of the hall with something large and shiny in it. She walked a ways up to the case and stared inside. The glittering object was a huge golden trophy, adorned with trim and shimmering jewelry, its height reaching up to her chest. She could make out a large object sitting on the very base of the award that looked like a gold statue of a vehicle. In front of it sat a dedication plaque with writing engraved finely into it. The printing was incredibly tiny, so much that she was forced to bend over and squint in order to read it.   
It said:  
CONGRATULATIONS  
JACKY BRYANT  
INDY 500 CHAMPION  
Jacky walked up behind her. By the way she was eyeing his prize so intently, he could tell that she was curious about it. He kept on expecting her to ask an obvious question that he was fully prepared to answer… yet nothing came from her. She continued to stare, eyes transfixed on the shimmering statuette.  
He couldn't stand the silence... he had to break it himself. "….Yeah. That's mine,"   
Vanessa nodded, not even turning to face him, continuing to observe. "Yes. That's what I figured. It has your name on it," she said, her tone of voice indicating that this fact was blatantly obvious.  
Her unresponsiveness made the typically outgoing Jacky feel a bit uneasy. She wasn't reacting well to his attempts to kindle some sort of conversation. "Well, um… Do you like it?"  
"It's… interesting. I haven't seen anything like this before." She finally turned around slowly to face Jacky. "I had heard there was a famous racer from this family. I guess my information was correct."  
"Yeah, but… it's been a while since I last raced. I've been working on getting into it again."  
"Hmmm… I see. That's good to hear."  
More awkward silence drifted between them.  
Every second of this was absolutely killing Jacky inside. Even as he tried to generate a dialogue, her responses seemed so unusually unemotive… he just didn't know how to deal with it. He had to do something.  
"Erm… would you like to look around the place a little? I'll be happy to show you everything."  
Her expression was unchanging. "I would be happy to see your residence, however, I'd like to take care of the business aspect first."  
Oh, maybe that was it… Jacky thought to himself. Perhaps she is the businesswoman type, the one who wants to get arrangements set in stone as soon as possible. Well, in that case, best get this over with….  
"Well, OK then! That's fine by me. Come on, I'll show you to the office."  
He walked a few steps ahead, gesturing for Vanessa to follow him. She trailed only a step or two behind him, winding through the main passageway into a smaller branch off to the left, going up a flight of stairs, and then heading through more long halls again, until they finally reached a room with a large, locked wooden door. Jacky took a set of keys from his jacket pocket and undid the large lock which barred their entry, then pushed the door inwards and stepped inside. Vanessa went in alongside him.  
The room looked like a rather old-fashioned office, with full, dark wooden bookshelves lining the walls, a desk and chair set towards the back, and several other large chairs sitting in front of it. Atop the desk sat a small lamp, a laptop computer, and a wireless telephone. Jacky walked behind the desk and sat down in the chair, facing in Vanessa's direction.  
"Please," he said, gesturing to the chair situated directly in front of the desk. "Sit down."  
Vanessa looked at the large, dark-green padded seat for a second, then sat herself down. Her body sank easily into the soft cushioning of the chair, taking her a bit by surprise after having to endure the hard airplane seats. It was quite comfortable.  
She lifted her head and looked at Jacky's face. He stared back at her intently, with a rather serious expression on his face, elbows and arms folded across the table. "So, Vanessa… you know why we have called you here?"  
She nodded. "I am not sure of all the details, but I know our group has informed you that your family is in danger, and you have been working on an agreement for our assistance."  
"OK then. What do you know about the Bryant family?"  
She shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't know that much," Vanessa replied. "I would appreciate it if you would tell me about yourselves."  
"Hmmm. Where to start then?" Jacky leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "Well… the Bryants have been a well-known family for a very long time. We have a large legacy to our name that spans back several generations. Currently, the Bryant household runs many well-established businesses throughout several major world industries. Overseeing these is the responsibility of my parents. That is the reason why they are going to have to be away for a while… they have to tend to important business matters elsewhere in the country and overseas."  
"…I see."  
"We also have some influence in government both here and abroad," he said, shifting his gaze back to Vanessa. "Mom and dad have been known to engage in political activism sometimes, and they also maintain several funds and charities. We try our best to keep ourselves out of the mainstream news, but most of the time we don't succeed with that." He chuckled nervously.  
"Interesting. So you believe this has something to do with your security problem?"  
"Yes, most certainly. Because we have such strong influence, and our family can be so visibly prominent at times, we have made ideal targets for criminal and terrorist groups. Recently your superiors have alerted us of a new, very severe threat to our family's welfare. That is why we have asked the SP to help us."   
"I understand."  
"Also, just so you know… we have a small private security force that usually handles some minor incidents every now and then. However, like I said… they are pretty small, and by no means experts. They have failed in the past, during situations where we needed protection more than anything…" His expression became noticeably bitter and resentful as he spoke about this. "We simply can't rely on them for major threats such as this. But the SP, well… you guys are simply the best of the best in the world, no contest. I am honored to entrust our safety to you."  
"Thank you for the compliments," she said, tone of voice unchanging. "However, we should get straight to the point. What is the threat you are facing right now that you have called upon me to help you deal with?"  
Jacky sighed. "Alright, let me explain. This might take a while…" He closed his eyes for a brief moment and raised his fingers to his lips, obviously in thought. He then opened his eyes again, but they were unfocused on the room in from of him, lost deep in recollection.  
"Well, it started several years ago. Back in 1991, I was at the peak of my racing career. I had already won a major championship the year before, as you saw out there. So about mid-year, I was participating in one of the bigger races… the competition was very fierce. I wasn't sure how I was going to do, but everyone was predicting me to win it all. I was extremely nervous.  
"I was doing well for quite a while. Among the best I've ever raced. Though I was nervous, I tried to keep my confidence high. About midway through the race, though, I thought I felt something strange beginning to happen with my car – like it wasn't handling the way it was supposed to. I figured it was just the excitement and tension causing me to imagine things. But only a few minutes later, I heard a series of noises from the front of the vehicle – then everything went straight to hell. The steering flipped out, the front end burst into flames, and I went spinning out of control at an insane speed. I flipped over and crashed violently, and was lucky to have only taken a few other drivers with me. They didn't suffer any severe injuries. But I was lucky to have survived."  
"Wow. That must have been something…" she said, astonished.  
Jacky nodded. "I was hospitalized for several months, recovering from severe injuries and burns caused by the crash. I went through rehab and managed to come out only slightly scarred from the whole experience. But since our family takes martial arts training, my body was in very good shape before this all happened. I am positive that alone is what saved me from death."  
"But from the outset, we knew this was some sort of foul play. We checked the vehicle over many, many times before I went out there. There was absolutely nothing at all wrong with it. Plus, the investigators at the scene discovered suspicious evidence from the wreckage. My race had been sabotaged, but we didn't know by who. At first we suspected one of the other drivers, since I was the obvious favorite. There was a huge investigation, but we could find no evidence linking any of them to the incident. Besides, when you think about it, it would be extremely dangerous for them to try something like that on a crowded racetrack, where anyone else could have been severely hurt along with me.  
"After the official investigations began to stagnate, my younger sister, Sarah, began investigating. She told me that she had learned about some underground criminal and terrorist organizations that were working to usurp world powers. She thought that there was one of these underground groups targeting us to attempt to overtake the resources our household has control of.  
"We were skeptical at first. She was young, and seemed like she would buy into conspiracy theories easily. But…" He looked down, as if he was ashamed of something. "Oh god… how wrong we were…." His voice trailed off as he sunk his face into his hands.  
Vanessa saw his distress and reached out towards him. "Are… are you OK?"  
He raised his face up, internal turmoil obvious from the anguish in his features. The way his eyes and mouth were quivering slightly revealed emotion he was desperately trying to hold back from being exposed. Vanessa immediately knew what was going on with him. She knew the feeling all too well…  
"…One day, Sarah was heading to an agency that was helping her with the investigation. …She never made it there." He lowered his head as he continued to speak. "They… the Organization… they knew what she was doing, and they already had plans for her. She… Sarah… was kidnapped and held by them for almost three years.  
"My parents and I were scared to death. We didn't know how or why she had disappeared… we were searching for her whereabouts by every means possible, with the help of every agency we could get ahold of. But about 2 weeks afterwards, I received an invitation to participate in a World Fighting Tournament. At a time like this, I normally would not have cared at all… But, that wasn't everything it said… the… the invitation said… they would reunite me with my sister…" Jacky sighed a deep, painful sigh, and put his face in his hands again. "Oh god…"  
Vanessa felt quite uneasy watching him describe something that was obviously causing him a great deal of distress. "I'm sorry…"  
"No," said Jacky, lifting his head back up to look at her. "It's just that… this was the darkest, most painful period in my life. I… never want anyone to have to endure what I did."  
"But what happened, then? Why did it take so long for you to get her back? And why didn't you try and trace where the letter had come from?"  
"Of course we tried that!" He snapped, irritated. "That was our immediate reaction. But it had been mailed from some international location. We tried using our contacts abroad to trace it but it proved to no avail. My only hope was to trust their words that I would be reunited with my sister if I were to enter. From that point on, I began to take my usual Jeet Kune Do training very seriously. More than anything, I wanted to do well in the tournament and discover what had happened to Sarah…"  
Vanessa could sense the anger growing within him. Though she was remaining calm and focused herself, and she understood the severity of the situation at hand, she wished that he could try and curb his temper just a little bit more. Nobody likes dealing with a person who is agitated…  
"The months seemed to drag on endlessly, but eventually the date of the first Tournament came to be. I was flown to the Far East to participate in the matches that were being held in that area. The first fights I had were quite easy… even though my focus was not on the battle itself. The whole time, I just kept thinking about Sarah. I began to worry when I did not see her after those first few bouts… had they tricked me? What purpose did they have for bringing me there? Words simply cannot describe the tempest that raged within me during those first few days…" he paused for a second, making a futile attempt to try and recollect himself a little.  
"But then, like a ray of hope from Heaven above… on my fifth day, I saw my next opponent. It was Sarah! Sarah… was there!" Jacky's hand had balled into a fist, and began to quiver violently. "She was fighting, too! I couldn't believe it. The moment I saw that it would be her, my heart was filled with such an indescribable, profound joy… and then everything inside me just…. shattered…" he pounded his clenched fist on the table a few times, his rage apparent. Vanessa was shocked a little by his sudden action, jumping a bit in her seat. Jacky, seeing that he had unwittingly frightened his guest a little, paused for a brief moment. He then loosened his hands and closed his eyes tightly, taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down to a reasonable level.  
"The person… who I was fighting…" he said between his gasps, "it…it was not Sarah." "It was not the sister who I loved so much… Her body had been turned into a hollow shell of a human… her mind had been destroyed and replaced with a demonic program of their own creation. All the love, joy, and memory she had carried as my sister before were gone… she was their living puppet now, and as I later found out, she had only one command… to take my life, by any means possible."  
"I was forced to fight against her, and though I recognized some of the techniques she used as ones she had studied in the past, but she did all sorts of insane stuff I had never seen… she wasn't that skilled before. I tried to talk with her, but she didn't say a word to me… she didn't know me as her own blood anymore. I could tell from the viciousness in which she struck at me, and the blankness in her eyes… I managed to defeat her in the fight, but I didn't know what was going to happen… what if I won? What if I lost? What would happen to us? I felt so frightened and confused…  
"After my victory, during the fanfare and ceremonies afterwards, I tried to break through the crowds and officials to get to her… but she had vanished. I looked all over for her… there was not a trace. I was so shaken up by everything that I simply couldn't focus anymore. I felt so dazed and numb… I didn't know what had happened to Sarah, if I would ever see her again… The next few fights in the tournament were difficult, and I eventually lost out."   
The night after all this happened, we were driving on the way back to the place where I was staying. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, something leapt down and broke one of the car windows. We were taken by complete surprise, but we managed to regain control of the vehicle and pull over to the side of the road. As we got out of the car to check the damage, I heard gunshots fire at me… quickly I grabbed the driver and lay flat on the ground. The shots grazed a good distance over us, but had I not reacted faster, we would have definitely been hit. I heard footsteps running away, and I went to pursue them. It was late at night and quite dark out, so I couldn't see very well…. But in the faint streetlights, chasing after the shadow, I could see a silhouette I knew was familiar… and then, she was swallowed by the darkness. I couldn't find Sarah again. My own sister… she tried to kill me." He swallowed. "I realized what had happened… the same people who were running the tournament… they had Sarah, and they wanted me dead.  
"I went back home and tried to continue where my sister had left off in her investigation. Unfortunately, most of what she had managed to uncover had been destroyed when they got ahold of her. I did find out that her suspicions were correct… there is a group out there that most people just call "The Syndicate" or "The Organization." Their goal is to obtain control of major world interests and eventually, all of society itself. They are already believed to have connections to some world powers and industries, which they are manipulating tacitly. And because our family has so many powerful interests and business connections, they decided to come after us. Most authority dismiss them as some sort of insane conspiracy theory. But as we have found out… they are very, very real. It seems like the SP are among the only people out there who take their threat seriously.  
"I learned that for many years, they have been engaging in assassinations, military training, and experiments to help attain their goals. Sarah was an ideal target for them… she was fairly strong, young and easily controlled, and she allowed easy access to our family."  
Vanessa felt a dread well inside her as something dark started to reemerge from the depths of her memory. She quietly forced it back and continued to listen to Jacky intently. She couldn't let herself get into that right now…  
"I knew they still had her in their control, and she would either come after me again… or else I would hunt her down and find her. Immediately after the first Tournament, there was a second announced. About half a year later, I got another invitation, with the same notice as before… I knew I couldn't fail this time. I had to get Sarah back.  
"I began to train with everything I had to succeed in this second battle… not to win, but to save my sister. That was my only focus… I was determined, but… I was also frightened beyond belief. I still didn't know what was happening to her, or what might happen to me if I were to fail…  
The first time, I had shown some restraint in fighting her… but this time, I had to show no mercy. I knew deep inside my heart that it wasn't truly my sister I was fighting, but a pawn, a parasite that had taken host in her body. She fought similarly viciously. They had taught her quite a bit since last time, and her resolve to destroy me was just as fierce as my determination to save her. I could either defeat her… or I'd die.  
It was close, far too close. I felt like I could have fallen at any minute… but I knocked her out for the final bout. I knew had I had to do immediately. With my last remaining strength, I took her in my arms and I fled. Immediately, they knew what had happened. They began to pursue us…  
I don't know how I did it. My strength had been almost completely spent from the fight, yet somehow, I managed to run away, with my sister in tow, into the depths of the city. I had managed to lose them by taking a series of side paths into god knows where. I finally stopped at the end of a dark alley, exhausted. I had not heard the sounds of their pursuit, and I had a feeling that they were finally gone. I was alone there with her, frightened, in that unfamiliar place… but I didn't care. I had Sarah back. I could finally hug my sister and tell her how much I loved her again… when I over her unconscious body, she looked so peaceful, like the Sarah I remembered from years ago. I was so happy, and I swore I would never let anything happen to her again.  
She began to wake up, and I could tell that being out of the range of the Organization's influence had changed her. Instead of that cold, demonic look in her eyes… I saw a sadness and innocence that had seemed all but lost before. I started to talk to her, but she didn't recognize me at all, and still seemed only semi-aware of what was going on around her. I figured this was because she was still recovering from the shock of everything that had happened, and she would return to full consciousness soon. That night, I just stayed there alone with her…  
"During the middle of the night, we were attacked by their agents. By that time Sarah was awake but still not functioning well... and we were trapped by them, with her still in only a semi-conscious state. They were going to kill me and take Sarah back. But I knew… I could never let them do that." He shook his head. "I don't know how I did it… I think it was just the determination in my heart and the grace of God that gave me the strength, but… we were able to break through them and flee further into the city. Eventually, after being on the run for hours, we found a foreign embassy. They knew of our family and were more than willing to offer us safety.   
They then gave us access to a medical facility. I was in bad shape, obviously, but Sarah was even worse. I was worried the whole time about her. She had been drifting in and out of various states of consciousness, and I was sure the constant running, hiding, and fighting were going to have a bad effect on her. They examined and treated us both for our injuries, and they tried to perform some preliminary psychoanalysis on Sarah. It appeared that her brain was functioning normally in all respects, but her memory seemed to be suffering. I assumed it was just a temporary aftereffect of whatever had been done to her. At that point, I just wanted to take her home as soon as possible. So, a few days later, we were off on a plane back to the United States… back to our home…  
"Unfortunately, I had been wrong about her memory loss. The brainwashing they had inflicted upon her had destroyed everything she knew about her past life… who I was, her relation to the rest of the family, what she had done in her past life before all this had happened…all gone. She couldn't remember anything of her experiences inside the Organization, either. Most everything else, including her skills from training, had been retained in her memory. I think this amnesia was some sort of "safety mechanism" they devised in case we managed to get her away from them. I was so happy that finally my sister could be part of my life again, but… she… she couldn't even remember me…she still wasn't the Sarah I had known and loved before… it was absolutely heartbreaking." He sighed.  
"So, we began to take her to some doctors and therapists in order to help her recover. She slowly began to re-accustom herself with aspects of our old lives together, but something was still missing. She didn't feel comfortable with us. She told us a few months after this all started that she couldn't bear to live like this and that she wanted to move away to New York where she could forge a new life for herself. We begged and pleaded with her not to, to stay with us, to try and fully recover her old life back with a family who would love and care for her, but… despite her memory loss, she hadn't lost that fierce determination from old times…"  
Out of nowhere, a few knocks sounded upon the door, interrupting the conversation. Surprised, Jacky stopped and turned towards the source of the noise. "Who's there?" he asked, knowing full well who would answer.  
"Jacky, it's me. I'm home for the evening," came a muffled female voice from the other side. "What're you doing in there?"  
"Oh!" exclaimed Jacky, in pleasant surprise. "Vanessa, can you hold on a second?" Jacky stood up from his seat and walked over to the door, opening it eagerly. Outside stood a very pretty woman wearing a stylish cutoff top and bright blue jeans, with various jewelry adorning her neck, wrists, and ears. Her long, pure blonde hair and sharp blue eyes matched that of Jacky exactly. Vanessa immediately knew her identity upon first sight.  
"Sarah, I'm talking with a family friend."  
"Hmmm? …I didn't hear about this." Sarah leaned to the side a little, trying to look behind her brother and catch a glimpse of the visitor. "Did she just come today?"  
"Yeah." Jacky responded, stepping aside so his sister could come in. "She's going to be staying in the house with us for a while. Her name is Vanessa Lewis."  
Vanessa's ears perked upon hearing this. Family friend? Staying in the house…? I had thought he was just going to put me off somewhere nearby…  
Jacky turned back to the silver-haired, tan-skinned woman. "Vanessa, I would like you to meet my younger sister, Sarah."  
Sarah walked over to Vanessa's seat and smiled, taking one of Vanessa's hands in hers. "Hello, Vanessa. I'm Jacky's sister, Sarah. I'm very pleased to meet you!"  
Vanessa stared back. "I'm pleased to meet you, too."  
"I hope Jacky been treating you well?"  
"I've had no problems so far, Miss Bryant."  
Jacky, who was standing beside them, laughed rather nervously. "Vanessa, you don't always have to be so formal! Her name is Sarah, just call her that. You don't have to worry about "Miss" or "Mister" here, OK?"  
Vanessa's eyes turned to Jacky for a moment, then back to Sarah. "I'm sorry, Sarah."  
"That's OK," she laughed in response. "So, how did you get here, Vanessa?"  
"Erm…" Jacky cut into the conversation again. "Sarah, we're kind of talking about important stuff right now. We'll be done a little bit, so… you two can meet and chat later, OK?"  
"Oh!" A look of realization came over Sarah's face. "I should have known that I was interrupting something. You usually don't use this room for much of anything… Well, I'm sorry, then." She turned to Vanessa again as she began to walk out of the room. "I guess I'll meet you downstairs in a little while," she said, smiling, as she exited and closed the door behind her.  
Vanessa turned back to Jacky, whose mood had improved noticeably since his sister had stopped by. "So, that's Sarah..."  
"Sure is. You'll be able to meet with her later on. You two will need to spend a lot of time together."  
"I thought you said she lost her memory?"  
Jacky nodded. "She did. But we found an unusual form of therapy for her. It seems like when the Organization did their mental treatments, they put a lot of emphasis on her fighting abilities and improving her skill. A lot of it came from the times when she and I had trained together in the past. Ever since she returned, she has had an unusually high desire for practicing… she began solo training, but as she practiced her skills, she suddenly found herself able to recover fragmented bits of memory from the past. "  
Vanessa's face was heavy with disbelief. "Really? That seems rather bizarre. How did that work?"  
Jacky shook his head. "The doctors were baffled. Nobody could understand what the connection was. But she was determined, and she kept training… she wanted to deal with this herself. About a month later, she called and told me she wanted to go back and fight in the next World Fighting Tournament." He chuckled nervously. "You should have seen me… I absolutely flipped out. How she could even think about going back and putting herself into such danger, after all I had gone through for her sake… even if she was trying to recover what she had lost… was infuriating. I was angry beyond words, but Sarah was absolutely determined to go back and participate. That's the way she's always been… determined to accomplish things, no matter what the cost. I didn't want to, but I knew I had to… if she was going to enter, I would too.  
"So, I went with her. It was actually pretty uneventful, this time around. Both Sarah and I did quite well, and I almost made it to the championship. During the tournament, I was very afraid that they might try to get ahold of Sarah again, so I was at her side constantly. Fortunately, nothing suspicious seemed to be going on, and nobody even showed any signs of wanting to harm either one of us. Sarah managed to recover most of her memory from that trip, as well, and even more in the months afterwards, finally returning to her old self. For once, things finally looked like they were all going to be OK again."  
"But, unfortunately… with all the good memories came the bad ones. She remembers a lot about what happened to her while she was under the Organization's influence." He looked down and shook his head sadly. "She still has nightmares and flashbacks sometimes that give her a lot of problems. Most of the time she seems OK, but she's still undergoing regular therapy and psychological treatment."  
"I see."  
"After that, I figured everything would be good from then on. Sarah was still having some problems, but we were working on them. I felt happier than I had been in years. It was then that I decided to take a break from training and fighting and go back into racing."  
"Racing? You decided to go back after all this time?" she was rather stunned by his statement. Why on earth would he go back to doing that after all he'd been through?  
Seeing the skepticism in her expression, he continued. "Yeah… it was like it was my mission, and the track was calling me back to fulfill it." He smiled apprehensively. "I don't think anyone can really understand unless they've done it themselves. It's a part of your being… you just can't abandon it so easily.  
"Unfortunately, after all this had started, I hadn't been practicing my race skills much, so I was still quite rusty. I worked on it for a while… right now, I'm at a good level, but still a ways away from where I was a while back.  
"But, people recognize my name from several years ago, and seem really happy to hear that I might be making a comeback. I had a lot of people approach me interested in sponsoring my return. I signed a few deals, and our press relations people began to work on plans to promote my return to competition."  
Then, out of nowhere, a look of rage suddenly overcame his features as he held up some sheets of paper. "But then, I got THIS through our business fax." He handed them to Vanessa. "Read it over."  
She took the sheets from him and glanced over them. As far as she could tell, there was nothing special about them… they were typewritten in a standard letter format, in a generic computerized font. She then began to read through the contents closely.  
  
Dear Mr. Jacky Bryant,  
  
We have recently heard about your intention to return to active racing competition. We admire you diligence and competitive spirit, and believe that you would perform extremely well upon your return to the sport.  
However, due to the circumstances that be, we are afraid that it is impossible for us to allow you to continue upon this path. We require your immediate participation in the upcoming 4th World Fighting Tournament (date TBA) instead. Therefore, we shall have to seek the active elimination of those that may be planning to sponsor your return.  
We ask that you please do not attempt to resist, as it will most certainly result in unexpected, undesirable consequences for you and those who you may be associating with. We sincerely hope that you come to an understanding of this as soon as possible so as to prevent any potential mishaps.  
  
Sincerely Yours.  
  
"So I see… these people don't want you to participate, then. And they're threatening to hurt your sponsors if you do?"  
Jacky nodded and sighed. "Yes…already all of the people I have been speaking with have received death threats in all kinds of forms… and one of them, who I was working on a major promotional deal with, had several key executives involved in an 'accident.'" His tone of voice changed considerably at this last word, giving away his suspicions. "Some fuel tank on a private jet exploded as the plane was preparing to take off for a trip here… Thankfully nobody was killed, but they did get hurt pretty bad. We were forced to stop proceedings on that deal out of fear that even worse might come."  
Vanessa looked over the papers, but could find no sort of indication on them of where they may have come from. "There's no sort of identifying marks on here… Do you have any idea where this could have come from?"  
"No… we tried having the number where it came from traced, but it lead to the middle of nowhere in some weird South American locale… and even that number had been disabled for months."  
Vanessa looked up at him again. "So, it looks like the work of the Organization again… I certainly can't think of anyone else that might be involved, considering your past with them. Unless there's something you're not telling me."  
"It's definitely the Organization. There's no way it couldn't be." He shifted his legs with a stern look on his face. "As much as it pains me, I've put everything on hiatus for the time being… I just can't see anything else we can do right now." He sighed again.  
"Then, we got a call from the SP… your superiors. They told me that they managed to dig up some intelligence indicating that Sarah might be a potential target. I can say in all honesty that this frightened me more than anything… the thought of losing my sister again to those bastards… I had to know what could be done. They told me that they could send one of their experts to aid in Sarah's protection and our family security…  
"And… that's where you come in," said Jacky, looking straight at Vanessa. "We have asked for your presence here to help investigate the situation, but most importantly, to help protect Sarah."  
Vanessa stared firmly back at Jacky, seeing how intent he was. "I understand. But… you do not think you or her are fully capable of defending yourselves?"  
"Well… yes, we are, and we've managed to do so in the past. But we've also been taken by surprise, too. Also, we have no idea of the full capabilities of this group, or what they are planning. All we know is that they want back at Sarah again. And you guys, the SP… you are experts in this field. I was told that you especially, Vanessa, have knowledge about combating terrorist groups. I don't know if the Organization really counts, but…"  
"No…" she said, holding her thoughts in place as they began to slip. "I actually know a few things about them. They're not unfamiliar to me at all."  
"Oh? Really?" As Jacky was speaking, he was staring into her eyes. They struck him as unusual – not because of their coloring, but because they seemed to reflect a very frigid feeling. It was almost like there was something inside them, trapped under a layer of hazel-green ice… "That's absolutely wonderful! You might really be able to help us out, then. We'd be even more grateful for your services."  
Vanessa nodded, but hesitated a little before speaking again, something gnawing at the back of her mind. "…May I ask you something, Jacky?"  
Jacky smiled a little upon hearing her finally refer to him by his first name. "What's that?"  
"When Sarah came in here… why did you tell her I was a family friend, and would be staying here?"  
"Well… we absolutely can't have her know that you've been hired by the family to act as a guardian for her. I'd hate to think what the psychological implications of Sarah finding out she's still being targeted would be… Like I said before, we're still having problems with parts of her rehabilitation, and we want to avoid making anything worse. So, you are going to be staying here, in the house with us, as a guest."  
Completely taken by surprise by this revelation, Vanessa opened her mouth to say something, but Jacky continued on.  
"We already have our big guest room prepared for you. I really hope you'll like it. Once everything of yours arrives you can make it into your little home-away-from-home. Sort of."   
Vanessa's eyes were wide with total astonishment. This was something she had never expected… being allowed to live in the client's quarters together with them? She wouldn't have even thought of it before.  
Jacky smiled back at her, seeing the obvious disbelief upon her face. "We want you to become part of the family for a while. We wouldn't do anything less for someone putting themselves in danger for our sake."  
Vanessa's gaze shifted down to the floor nervously. She really didn't know what to say in reaction, feeling almost flattered by the unexpected show of hospitality. "So… what will my official duties be?"  
"Well, you are going to be looking after Sarah's safety, first and foremost. We don't expect you to be with her every single minute of the day, of course, because that would be impossible. But… we want you to keep an eye out for anything suspicious involving her, seeing what she might be up to, if she might do anything or go anywhere that could potentially put her in harm's way. However, you must remember… she absolutely, under no circumstances, can NOT know what is going on, at all. We want Sarah to lead as normal a life as possible, but we also want her to be safe."  
She lifted her head up again and looked straight at him. "Understood. You have my utmost guarantee that I will perform to the very best of my ability for Sarah's sake."  
"Good. You have no idea how much comfort that will give me..." Upon saying this, Jacky slowly stood up from his seat and stretched his arms out a little. "Well, I think this is enough talk for tonight. Maybe we can discuss this all a little bit more tomorrow? I would like to have you get acquainted with a few things around here before it gets late. Besides, you still have Sarah to meet."  
"Um…" she hesitated. "I really do think we should get everything discussed ahead of time. I still don't know how I should function around here," she said seriously.  
Jacky walked to the side of her chair and looked down at her, seeing the cold, focused look in her eyes. "Vanessa, don't worry about that. Just get yourself settled. I'm sure you'll develop your own routine during the time you're here." He pat his hand on her shoulder gently. "Now may I please have the pleasure of fully introducing our guest to my dearest sister?" He said, grinning widely.  
"Well, if that's what you want…" she said, rising from her seat. She followed Jacky from the room and out into the hallway.  
  
-- NOTES --  
  
Another VF4 fanfic from me. This is the fic I spoke of in my previous story, and if everything goes as planned, this is going to be quite long. I hope other VFers will enjoy the effort and affection I'm trying to put into it.  
I know this chapter is fairly lax on action, and the next will probably be too. I just want to make sure the character and setting are well established first. Worry not, there's going to be plenty of action and drama coming soon.  
The next chapter is already partially done, and will hopefully be completed in the near future.  
FYI, the text at the beginning is a translation of Vanessa's Japanese VF4 storyline.  
Thanks for reading! 


	2. Accommodations

Sarah was waiting downstairs, sitting upon one of the cushiony sofas close to the hall where the two would return from, reading a magazine. She'd never seen or heard of the woman that she had seen her brother speaking to before. She must be some really obscure family connection who had some important matter come up... They must have been talking about business or something, because she had looked really serious.  
But something about her look had seemed rather strange. Sarah couldn't put her finger on what it was exactly, but there was this noticeable lack of warmth when she had exchanged greetings and words. That woman's facial expression hadn't even changed any...  
And what was with her hair, anyway?  
"Sarah?" said a voice from a distance away. Turning her head, she saw Jacky walking down the hall, the tan-skinned woman following a few steps behind him.  
"Oh, hi!" she put down the magazine and ran up to her brother and his guest. She looked at them both, smiling. "You're done already."  
Jacky smiled back and nodded. "Well, since you didn't really get to meet properly, I'd like to re-introduce our guest, Vanessa Lewis."  
Sarah turned and smiled at Vanessa. "Hello again, Vanessa."   
Vanessa stared back at the smiling young blonde. "Hello again to you too, Sarah. I'm pleased to meet you."  
"Jacky said you were going to be staying with us?"  
Jacky jumped in before Vanessa could say anything. "That's right. She's staying in our main guest room."  
"Oh?" Sarah said to her brother. "Now I see. So THAT's why you wanted that room tidied up." She turned back to Vanessa. "So... what brings you here?"  
"Business," Vanessa replied matter-of-factly.  
"She has things she needs to take care of around here," Jacky added hastily. "She's a family friend, so we're letting her stay with us. However, we still don't know how long she's going to be here. It'll probably be a while."  
Vanessa noted that Jacky seemed to be doing most of the talking for her. She didn't really mind it at the moment, though. After all, she hadn't thought of any excuses to the questions that were sure to be asked...  
"That's cool. It'll be interesting having someone else in the house with us. It gets kind of dull in here sometimes, with mom and dad being away. Kind of short notice, though!" Sarah laughed.  
Jacky continued to stand by Vanessa's side. "Yeah... but that couldn't be helped." He looked back at Vanessa for a moment. "Sarah, you'll try and help Vanessa feel more comfortable here, won't you?"  
"Oh, of course!" She took Vanessa's hand in hers gently. "Vanessa, how about we start by showing you a few places around the house?"  
"She's already seen this main hall and my office," Jacky pointed out, "so don't bother with those. Why don't you just show her a few of the main rooms?"  
Sarah nodded back at her brother. "Will do. " She looked back up towards Vanessa and tugged her arm gently. "Well, then, let's get the tour started!" she said, smiling brightly.  
"Alright. You lead the way, please."  
The two began to walk out towards a passageway to the right side of the main room. Noticing that her brother wasn't tagging along, Sarah suddenly stopped and turned. "Jacky, aren't you coming with us?"  
He shook his head. "No, I've got a bit of computer work I need to finish up. Besides, Vanessa's spent all afternoon with me. I think this would be a good opportunity for you two to get to know each other a little without your big, stupid brother hanging around." He smiled slyly.  
Sarah laughed a little at his comment. "Well, OK, if you're going to be that way about it." She turned back to Vanessa. "Let's be going, then."  
"If I don't see you again tonight, Vanessa," Jacky said as the two started off, "Goodnight and rest well."  
"You too, Jacky," said Vanessa, following at Sarah's side. As the pair walked away, Jacky couldn't help but stare at her again. There was something about Vanessa that was absolutely intriguing to him, but he couldn't quite place a finger on what it was... her appearance was certainly striking, but it wasn't just that. Jacky wasn't that superficial a person... what could it be?  
  
...  
  
"And this," Sarah said, leading her into the two large interconnected rooms, "is our dining room and kitchen."  
Vanessa was wide-eyed at the amazing setup they had. The kitchen looked like something out of an overly elaborate cooking television show - several stainless steel tables, sinks, ovens, and grills, huge windows with draped, green curtains hanging about the sides, a line of several refrigerators and freezers lined up against the opposite side of the wall, a rack hanging above filled with imported wines, and plenty of room to move around in. Through the other side of the room she could see a long, elegant dining hall, with two large, rectangular wooden tables stretched across the room's length.  
Vanessa walked to the other end of the kitchen and peered through the door. The dining hall stretched out long, with giant, elegantly curtained windows lining its left side, and a series of decorative lights and artwork upon the right, surrounding a small door presumably leading off to other private dining quarters. The tables themselves were decorated with large statuettes and floral arrangements, all evenly spaced apart so as not to disrupt the mood they set.  
Even after having seen the game room, collection hall, the massive courtyard and gardenia, the garage, the pool, and the indoor and outdoor gymnasium and sporting field, Vanessa couldn't help but be impressed at what she saw. Amazingly, she had dealt with people who were even more affluent than this in the past... but she had never witnessed their lifestyle so personally.  
"Is this where you eat every night?" she asked, turning back around to face Sarah.  
"Actually, no. That area is when we have guests over. For business, parties, and whatnot." She walked to Vanessa's side and pointed to the door in the right wall of the dining room. "See that door right there? It leads to a smaller dining area. It's a lot more casual there. We always eat in there instead."  
"I see." She looked back through the kitchen again. "And you cook and store everything in here?"  
"Well, we have someone who helps us prepare dinner sometimes, usually when our parents are around, so that's why we need such large space. And of course, when you're preparing dinner for an event in the dining hall..."  
Sarah suddenly stopped, her face taken with an expression of realization. "Oh my god! ...Did Jacky get you anything to eat?"  
Vanessa shook her head.  
"Oh no, he must have been expecting me to prepare something! I didn't realize you were coming, though, so I didn't bother to get anything ready tonight... and it's late now, too... oh no, I'm so sorry, Vanessa! I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!"  
Vanessa was both flattered and a little bit nervous at this. "Sarah, it's OK. I realize that this was short notice. Please don't concern yourself with it."  
"Well... I just can't let this go," Sarah said, with a guilty tinge in her eyes. "I'll make it up to you later tonight."  
"I appreciate your generosity, Sarah, but you and your brother are already doing so much for me..." Vanessa did feel a bit uncomfortable with this situation, especially with the recently revealed knowledge that she would be sharing in their grandiose living quarters during her tenure. They were doing so much for her... but she was supposed to be the one helping them...  
Sarah sighed. "I still feel bad about it. Let's just take a walk through the dining room, OK?"  
Vanessa nodded in silent response. She again followed behind Sarah into the humongous chamber, marveling at its grandiose scale. The starlit night sky shone through the tall windows, as did the glowing halos of the lights outdoors, casting quite an ethereal mood. Even without any people inside, the place still seemed as if it was prepared for a gigantic party. The sound of their footsteps echoed throughout as they passed through. One could only imagine what sort of noise would come from a gathering that would fill the entire room...  
"Say, Vanessa," Sarah said suddenly, breaking the silence, keeping up her pace. "Is there anything else you want to see tonight? It's starting to get a little bit late. I'd love to show you more but you've already seen most of the important stuff. Would you like to take a look at your room? I've got a few other things I'll need to get you, too."  
"Well... No... not really," Vanessa replied. It was a question that was difficult to answer; after all, she didn't know of everything that the Bryant property had to offer. "But thank you for your consideration."   
Sarah smiled back. As they came to the end of the dining hall, Sarah gently took hold of Vanessa's hand and led her along through and out the doorway. "Then, please allow me to show you to your new living quarters..."  
  
...  
  
The two were walking down a long hallway when Sarah suddenly stopped and turned to face one of the doors on her right side. Her hand grasped the knob as she looked towards Vanessa.  
"Here," Sarah said, slowly opening the door, "is your guest room. " She gestured inside, and Vanessa walked in. "Please just take a look around. I need to get something, so I'll be back in just a sec." With that, Sarah exited, leaving Vanessa alone to take in her surroundings.  
Her guest room was large, spacious, and impeccably clean and prepared. The hue of the walls was a calming sky-blue color, with a single shining streak of silver-gray wallpaper circling the room at its center. Across from Vanessa was a huge, stylish new dresser, with a notably long mirror to provide a full view of herself on her surroundings, and three small lamps along its top. On the room's right side was a closet that stretched almost the length of the entire wall. A neatly made queen-sized bed, prepared with fluffy, red pillows and multiple layers of soft-looking blankets lay near the room's left side, close to a massive window overlooking the courtyard below. A small table with a LCD clock upon it sat at the bedside, within arm's reach. Her luggage from earlier had been set on the floor by the entrance, but other than a small, green recliner and a brightly shining lamplight in the corner, the rest of the room was left open.  
Vanessa slowly walked across from one side of the area to the other, carefully looking over it all. I never expected anything like this... she thought to herself. I don't think I've ever been able to call a room this large my own before...   
"So, how is the room?"  
Vanessa turned back to Sarah, who had just reappeared at the door. "Well..." she said, rather at a loss for words, "It's... really nice. I think it's almost too much for me."  
Sarah laughed. "Oh, come on! You're a special guest. We want to make you as comfortable as possible while you're here. Speaking of which... I'll set up a bath for you."  
"A... bath?" said Vanessa, surprised. Where had that come from?  
"Well, you told me how cramped and tired your body was from the plane trip. A bath will be the perfect thing to loosen you up. You'll love it, trust me." She smiled brightly, holding up something she had brought into the room. It was white and fluffy... "Here's a bathrobe I brought for you," she said, handing it over to Vanessa.  
Vanessa stared down at the garment, surprised by the suddenness of the whole situation. "It's OK with you to use this?" Vanessa inquired nervously, unfolding the fabric and holding it up against herself.  
"Yeah, it's fine. Go ahead and keep it if you want. I'll go ahead and get things ready for you, then... why don't you change out of your clothes?"  
Before Vanessa could answer, Sarah had already left the room. She looked down again at the robe Sarah had given her, bright and white as pure snow, its color contrasted sharply against that of her dark, tan skin, but shone with a similar highlight as her locks of hair. It seemed very nicely made... must have been pretty expensive. And they were just giving it to her! Even though she knew that the Bryants could easily afford such luxuries, she felt quite guilty accepting something as this from them, on top of everything else they were doing for her, though she was certainly grateful for their hospitality.  
She removed her shirt and pants, throwing them into a pile towards the corner of the room, near the closet. The necklace that she had been wearing underneath with her father's dogtags attached was exposed, the metal pieces resting just above her chest. Carefully, she removed the precious pendant, and set it atop the small stand near the spacious bed where she would be sleeping. After removing the rest of her undergarments, Vanessa had slipped into the white robe that Sarah had bestowed to her.  
She was surprised at how soft it felt against her. It was not like a typical, somewhat rough-textured bathrobe she had worn many times before. It felt almost like an animal fur. She stoked it a little, taking the fabric between her fingers and rubbing. The soft fibers tickled her hands just a little...  
Vanessa picked up her clothing and opened the door to the hall outside. Sarah was standing there, smiling, as she stepped through the doorway.  
"Well, do you like it?"  
Vanessa nodded and looked down at her covering. "Yes, this is very nice. It's quite soft."  
"Great! I'm glad it's to your favor. I'll show you where our bath is."  
Sarah again lightly grabbed Vanessa's arm and lead her down the brightly lit hallway to a room towards the end. She took the handle of the large, white door and pushed it inwards. "I started the water and left you a few things to wash with. Feel free to mess around with the settings and figure out what you like," Sarah said, nudging her in. As Vanessa began to look around, Sarah peeked through a crack in the door. "Oh, and don't forget to lock the door behind you! Don't want anyone to walk in by accident..." Then, she vanished again.  
Vanessa flipped the door lock on and puzzled for a brief moment. Settings? Just what sort of bath was this?  
She looked around, amazed at how large and ornate the room was. The walls were tiled by a striking aquamarine pattern, with streaks of gold lining the top, bottom, and edges of the room. A gigantic sink and mirror stood across from the doorway, reflecting the image of Vanessa in her robed glory. There were several racks of towels and washcloths beside it, all freshly cleaned, folded, and lined up in neat little rows, and beyond that sat a whole shelf of various soaps, scents, shampoos, and other interesting bathing tools. Towards the back of the room sat a large, deep, beautiful porcelain-white tub, with multiple bronze-colored faucets and linings adorning its sides, Inside it was filled with a pool of rapidly bubbling water, jets of fluid streaming out from all sides, steam visibly wafting from its surface. It was some sort of combination bath and spa that she had only heard about until now...  
Vanessa could also smell a deep, floral scent. She wasn't sure what it was initially - soap? Potpourri? Then she realized why the water was foaming over. Sarah must have put in some sweet-smelling bubble solution for her! How nice.  
Rolling up the sleeve of her robe, she knelt down and grazed the water's surface with her hand. It was hot! Her first instinct was to immediately pull her arm back a bit, but she soon put it back in and gradually pushed it further and further down, growing used to the heat that lay within, feeling the water jets and bubbles brush against her skin. As Vanessa looked to the side of the tub, she found a small temperature control panel. She took the control knob between her fingers and nudged the temperature down a notch and saw the small, black LED display above it indicate her change of preference. Turning around and seeing the pool of bliss that lay before her, Vanessa removed her robe and threw it in the corner, then carefully climbed into the tub.   
Vanessa shuddered a little from the temperature as she first began to descend into the warm water. Gradually, she lowered herself further, feeling the heat envelop her, until finally she lay with water and bubbles rising up to her neck. The heat was quite strong at first, but it soon began to seep through her skin and sink deep within her muscles, yielding an intense feeling of relaxation that was sorely needed. The waterstreams flowing from the side of the tub massaged her gently, giving comfort, while scent from the bubble bath drifted deep into her nostrils.  
"Mmmmmmmm," she hummed to herself contentedly, her tensed sinews finally beginning to loosen up. She had never really been treated to such lavishness before. Sure, previous clients had given her limo rides and fancy dinners and whatnot, but she had never been invited to share personal household luxuries as a part of the family. The Bryants, though... they really were treating her like a guest. To the others she had worked for in the past, she was a mere bodyguard, a woman who was being paid to put herself at risk for their protection. She was a highly trained professional from one of the world's most renowned organizations... but yet, still just a bodyguard. She had never spoken much to them, never known much about them behind the personas they had presented to the public... but the two she had met, they seemed so different from everyone else. The way Jacky seemed so willing to talk about the most difficult time of his life to her, and the way he looked at her whenever they had spoken to each other... the way Sarah was so eager to assist her, and make her feel welcomed... it was like they really did want to get to know her, as opposed to just having her stand around and fend off would-be assailants. As nice as this felt, it also made Vanessa more than a little uncomfortable. She wasn't totally sure she wanted to share all the aspects of her life with people she barely even knew yet. Actually, she wasn't sure she wanted to share all the aspects of her life with ANYONE...  
She wondered just what was going to be like staying with the siblings. Jacky had said he had anticipated her being there for a few months, until the tournament had finished and the danger had passed. That was quite a while! Vanessa wondered what sort of things she'd be doing with them. She would be working hard to try to protect them and to uncover just what J6 had planned, of course, but words Jacky had said to her stuck in her mind: "We want you to become part of the family for a while." What all did he mean by that...?  
Vanessa began to think about the brother and sister pair. Her initial impressions of Jacky and Sarah were positive. They certainly had made her feel a bit uneasy at times, which was unusual for her personality type... probably because she wasn't used to her clients being so outgoing and generous. Jacky was quite friendly, and admittedly rather handsome. His love for Sarah was obvious, with the way he had almost lost control of his emotions several times during their conversation, and just the way he spoke to his sister when she was around. Sarah was very nice and appeared genuinely interested in becoming a friend to her, though she seemed just a little bit... lost, as if there was something there that she didn't quite understand fully. For some reason, she couldn't imagine the Sarah she had just seen as a cold-blooded killer...  
Vanessa's mind shifted back to her surroundings as her eyes drifted towards a device sitting to her right. It looked like a showerhead of some sort, but it was situated very low, and pointed at only a slight angle downwards. Right next to it was a small faucet handle.  
She moved towards the device and grabbed ahold of the handle. As she turned it, a large jet of hot water suddenly shot out of the nozzle, splashing the side of her face and taking her by surprise. A loud, startled yelp flew forth from her as she stumbled back a bit.  
A knock at the door resounded. "Vanessa, are you OK in there?" came Sarah's voice from outside.  
She must have heard me splashing around, Vanessa thought... "Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry, please."  
"OK. Let me know if you have trouble."  
She turned back to the device. Putting her hands at its base, she found that she was able to lift it out of its holster. It was attached to a hose, and could be moved around. It seemed to be intended for washing hair...  
She lifted it out and over herself, and began to spray the warm water against the back of her head. It ran swiftly down the strands of her shining hair, causing them to clump together. She'd done enough relaxation for now. It was time to clean herself off...  
  
"What are you up to, Sarah?" said Jacky, passing by her in the hall as she stood by the door.  
"Oh... I'm just checking up on Vanessa, that's all."  
"Um, she's a smart woman, sis, " he said in a sarcastic tone. "I think she can figure it out by herself."  
"Hmmm... OK." Sarah turned to face her brother. "Is this the first time you've met her, too?"  
"Yeah. She seems like an interesting woman."  
Sarah nodded in agreement. "She hasn't been overly talkative, though. I don't think she's shy or anything... it's like she's angry or something."  
"I haven't seen her smile since she got here. I don't think she's angry, though... I just think she's usually like that."  
"Really?" Sarah put the tip of her thumb up to her lip and bit it as she fell into thought. "Hirm."  
"What's up?"  
"Well, I think she needs to loosen up a bit, then. Tomorrow I think we should do something fun with her."  
"Like?"  
"Er... actually, I can't come up with anything off the top of my head," Sarah replied hesitantly. "Why don't we ask tomorrow morning what she wants to do? We can find out what sort of stuff she enjoys. I think that we should show her around a little bit more, too. She mostly saw the big stuff tonight."  
Jacky smiled back at Sarah. "Sounds like a plan to me."  
"And we need to make up for not providing her with a decent meal tonight..." she said, giving her brother an angry eye.  
"Uh... wait, why are you looking at me like that? You're the one who usually handles that stuff..."  
"I would have handled it had I known she was actually coming. YOU didn't say anything."  
"Duh... er..." Jacky was stuck. "Crap. I'm sorry." He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "So I guess we really need to make sure we make that up to her..."   
"I'll something nice for dinner tomorrow. How does seafood sound?"  
"Fine by me. Anything besides that planned?"  
"Well, I was hoping to train a bit, too. Maybe you'd want to join me?"  
"Hmmm... we'll see. "  
"Alright. I'll go and get things all set up for her for the morning."  
He walked over, put his hands on her shoulders, and gave his sister a quick, gentle kiss on her forehead. "You do that. Are you going to bed afterwards, then?"  
"Yeah, it's getting kinda late."  
"Agreed... I want to get to bed too, but I still have some work I want to take care of."  
"Same here. I have something I need to prepare..." she started to walk off.  
"Prepare? ...What are you preparing?"  
"Nothing. Just something nice for our houseguest, since I didn't have a chance earlier." She continued to walk away into the distance. "I probably won't see you again tonight, so sleep well, OK?"  
"I will. You too, Sarah."  
  
Vanessa stood in front of the misty bathroom mirror, blowing her hair dry. As she finished her task, she shut off the hair dryer and ran a hand through her warm, freshly fluffed silver strands, relishing the feeling of heat against hr fingers. She wasn't quite sure of what time it was, her biological clock being thrown off a bit by the change that flying into a different time zone had incurred, but she had a suspicion that it was growing rather late. She picked up her used towels off the floor and set them inside a nearby clothes hamper. Tightening the belt of her robe, she opened the large bathroom door and stepped outside.   
Looking into the hallway, she visually traced the route back to her guest room. It seemed like her hosts weren't around. They had probably retired for the evening.  
As she walked back towards her bedroom, she came across a small mound lying in the middle of her pathway. There, sitting in front of the door, was a basket containing a jar of honey and a pile of warm, freshly baked bread. Kneeling down to examine it, Vanessa could see that alongside the pastries sat a small note written on shining, flowery, gold-trimmed stationery. She removed the note and began to read the large, smoothly flowing handwriting.   
  
Vanessa,  
Here's something that's a favorite of mine. Hopefully it will compensate a little for the lack of a real meal for you. I'll make sure you'll have a good breakfast tomorrow morning, too.   
I'm off to sleep for tonight. Tomorrow, let's have some fun together, OK?  
-Sarah  
  
She carefully set the note back inside the basket and removed one of the rolls. Taking a bite, Vanessa was surprised by a unique, light yet rich flavor. This was obviously a special recipe she had never tasted before. Putting a small amount of honey on the pastries gave it a sweet, pleasant tang. She usually wasn't much for foods like this, but having never eaten this particular mix before, and it being a present from her host, she was more than happy to accept it. She took the basket into her room, then sat down on the bed and ate a few more pieces, careful not to get any crumbs on the sheets of where she would be resting tonight. After she had eaten her fill, she set the basket and the remainders upon the dresser.  
She walked over to her pile of luggage, opened one of the larger cases, and sifted through the clothes within. Digging deep into the pile of fabrics, Vanessa found what she was looking for: a soft, blue satin nightrobe. Vanessa yanked it out and set it upon the bed, then begun to remove her bathrobe. She would worry about unpacking the rest into her new dresser and closet tomorrow. Besides, she had more of her belongings coming...  
After putting her nightrobe on, Vanessa took her slightly moist white robe and hung it upon a small hook attached to the backside of the door. She carefully pulled back the first few layers of covers on her bed. The sheets consisted of several types of fabric: some soft and cottony, others smooth and silky, but they all seemed to be of a very high quality. Letting out a sigh of exhaustion, she climbed onto the bed and then pulled the sheets over her body.  
As she closed her eyes, she said a short, silent prayer to herself, the one her father had taught her in the first few months they had spent together. It was a habit of hers, something to help clear her mind a bit before she drifted into sleep, and to remember what she held most dear...  
Despite this, various thoughts and images from the day continued to circulate through her mind as Vanessa fell into slumber. It was not at all a difficult process that night: the bath had eased her stiffness considerably, but the weariness from the trip and the excitement of today still lingered. Her mind and body were more than ready for a good rest...  
  
Jacky yawned as he finished typing the last of his emails. He had developed a particular dislike for this sort of work, but it had to be done. Correspondence was not fun at all recently... everything was either business matters or things related to the recent events. His most recent message of note came from one of his family's friends overseas. Apparently rumor in the area said that the tentative date for the next World Fighting Tournament had been set a little more than four months away.  
The prospect of having to go and fight again bothered Jacky greatly. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy his martial arts training - he certainly had a talent for it, and had been sharpening his skills again recently in case they would prove to be needed. It was just that he was so weary of the constant struggles he and the family faced. Everything had seemed so perfect - he had his sister back, and he was on the track to making a spectacular comeback to the field of work he loved most. And now, it had all begun to fall apart, and he seemed almost helpless to stop it, unless took up the battle again. Plus, there was all the emotional baggage associated with the tournament and the events that had happened that were connected to it... if he had to fight in any other event it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad.  
He hoped more than anything that somehow, everything would be resolved before he had to register to do battle in the Tournament again. Yet Jacky knew, deep down in his heart, that it was incredibly unlikely to happen. He had to be brave and resilient, and fight until the very last...  
He remembered how lonely he felt during the time when Sarah was held by the Organization. Nothing could feel much lower than that... feeling as if all your hopes, dreams, and those you loved were snatched away from you. He never wanted himself or anyone else to ever have to suffer through such a terrible experience again...that was what he had fought for, and that was what he would continue to fight for - not just for himself, but for his family and friends as well.  
And then, there was the matter of Vanessa.  
The tan skin, the silver hair, and the green-hazel eyes... Vanessa had been in his thoughts all day. But even though they had spent a long time talking, he knew little more about her than before they had met. His attempts to spark conversation with her had been met with an unfamiliar resistance. Throughout their discussion, she had responded to his words and actions, and had been genuinely surprised at her being able to stay with them. But there was still something present, a hard, cold barrier preventing true interaction between him and her, something that stopped him from discovering her emotion and personality. Judging from what she had said before he came up here, Sarah had seemed to notice it, too...   
He just couldn't stand it. Being the outgoing person that he was, not being able to truly talk to and understand another - especially one who was entrusted in safeguarding his sister - was absolutely distressing.  
Yes, he had figured it out. That was the reason he was so fascinated with her. He so wanted to know more about her, and yet somehow she held herself back from him, either willingly or unwillingly - he couldn't tell.   
A determination formed in his mind: whatever this blockade in communication was, he would work to destroy it, and break into the depths of Vanessa's persona.  
The computer shut itself off as he stood up from the chair. He, too, was rather weary after the day's events, and looked forward to at least a semi-peaceful rest. Tomorrow he would figure out some way to discover just who the woman named Vanessa Lewis was at her heart...   
  
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Another installment in this story. I'm glad that at least a few other VF4 fans are enjoying my fics so far. With VF4 Evolution coming out soon, we're going to see two more characters enter the mix - and hopefully inspire more ideas for me to write about in VF fanfic (^_^)  
  
Next part: Finally some real action! Jacky and Vanessa get into a sparring match to learn something about the skills of the other, and maybe learn a bit more about their own techniques as well! I'll hope I'll be up to the task of writing some action scenes worthy of the VF name. 


	3. Training

"OK, I'm going to come at you now. Are you ready?"  
Before she could respond, he quickly ducked down low and came up with a strike aimed straight at her chin. She wasn't afraid, of course, because she knew that he would never hurt her, but she was expected to react as if her assailant was really a dangerous opponent.  
Quickly, Vanessa recognized the attack coming at her and grabbed his wrist firmly. She held on with all of her strength, for her father was still considerably stronger and more experienced than she, and could escape easily if she didn't. She was able to hold onto him for but a brief second before he was finally able to slip away from her.  
As he attempted to strike at her feet with a low kick, she backed up a few steps, concentrating the energy that was bound within her legs. She then lunged forward and stretched out her leg as to hit him with a powerful blow, but instead retracted her attack in mid-strike and stumbled back a bit.  
Vanessa then collapsed on the ground, her body coated in a layer of sweat from the rigorous training she had been performing for hours.  
"Daddy…" she gasped, words coming between her breaths of air. "I'm… I'm really tired. Can we stop now?"  
Lewis walked over, looked down at her, and smiled. "Sure, that's no problem, sweetie. I'm getting a little exhausted myself. Let's call it a day, OK?"  
Vanessa smiled back, still panting heavily. "OK."  
Lewis knelt down and slowly stood his teenage daughter back up. "You know, if you get so worn out, maybe we should cut back on this training a little," he said, looking visibly concerned. "I don't want my little girl to be sore all day."  
She shook her head frantically. "No, no, no! I really like training with you, daddy. I learn a lot."  
Lewis smiled at her again. "I knew you'd say that… you really seem to enjoy it, and I'm glad I can spend this time together with you." His fingers ran gently through strands of her silver locks, moist and matted together from her perspiration. "I'm very impressed with how you're doing, too. Most girls your age would never be able to accomplish the things that you can. I think you could probably even outdo some of the men on the squad…"  
Vanessa was truly surprised by this comment. She knew the men her father worked with… Those guys had been perfecting combat skills on a professional level for years! She couldn't possibly be even close to their rank! "You really think so?"  
"Yes, I mean it, Vanessa." His words were tinged with a sincerity she could sense by instinct. "You are naturally powerful."  
A puzzled look came across her face. "What do you mean, though?" she asked. "You keep saying that."  
"Hmm…"he mumbled, trying to think of what to say. "You know what the people who kept you locked up for all those years were doing with you, right?"  
Deep dread began to well inside Vanessa upon hearing these words. She didn't want to bring to mind those experiences. The memories all seemed so dark, cold, and frightening… like the things nightmares were made of. No, she never wanted to dwell upon those again… "I don't really remember, daddy. You know that."  
Lewis ran his finger along her collarbone, looking over her powerful figure. "Well… They wanted to make your body into a living weapon. They gave you your initial training, along with all sorts of experimental substances they were working on to strengthen their ranks…"   
Lewis then set his palms upon her shoulders and massaged them gently. "You were quite strong to begin with, but because they forced those things upon you… your body has developed in special ways. It's surprised even me. And it'll continue to do so as you keep growing and training…" He took one of her hands in his and pulled it out towards him, extending her arm. His other hand rubbed her well-toned arm muscles tenderly. He then brought her hand up to his lips, where he kissed it.  
Lewis looked proudly into the wide, shining green-hazel eyes of his beloved daughter. "You're going to become a strong woman, Vanessa. In fact… you already are."  
  
------------------------------------  
  
The first thing to greet Vanessa's eyes as she woke up that morning was soft rays of sunlight being filtered through the thin curtains of the room's window. She had a hunch that she had woken up later than usual, but she could forgive herself easily. That was the best rest she had gotten in a long time.  
Climbing out of the bed, she took a few moments to stretch herself out a bit. It was routine for her to do so, as her occupation demanded for her to be in a constant state of physical readiness whenever possible. As she finished up, she headed back towards her suitcase and bug out some clothes for the day – a soft gray shirt and a pair of loose-fitting casual slacks, and of course the undergarments. Hastily throwing off her nightgown, she hopped into her outfit and then straight out the door into the hallways.  
A pungent aroma of something cooking was wafting through the chamber. Vanessa quickly identified it as the unmistakable odor of pork being sizzled. Her curiosity and hunger aroused, she knew the kitchen wasn't far off now.  
  
Sarah stood at the humongous stove, obviously preoccupied with preparing the morning's dish. Jacky stood across from her, leaning on the counter while reading a newspaper. As Vanessa entered the room, he looked up and smiled.  
"Congratulations, Vanessa, you are going to the lucky recipient of the Sarah Bryant Homemade Breakfast Special. This isn't a too-common occurrence, you know."  
"Wow, you wake up late, Vanessa," said Sarah, not even turning around, totally preoccupied with her cooking.  
Vanessa blinked. "I do?"  
Jacky pointed to the wall clock, which read 10:17 AM. "Eh, I don't think it's late. Sarah's just weird and wakes up early to watch TV. Plus she wanted to work on getting this ready for you this morning."  
"It is a little late, for me. I suppose I was just really tired." Vanessa shrugged.  
"Well, it means you probably slept well, at least. That's certainly not a bad thing."  
"I did, actually. Thank you both very much for your extended hospitality." Vanessa nodded her head slightly in appreciation. "So…" she said, looking back in Sarah's direction, "What does the, um, 'Sarah Special' consist of?"  
Sarah, still facing the counter, turned her head as far as she could in Vanessa's direction to respond. "It's a ham and cheese breakfast omelet. With my special touch."  
Jacky snorted. "Special touch, she says."  
"Quiet, you!"  
"Eh, well at least it will be edible. Which is more than I could say if I made it."  
As Jacky spoke, Vanessa walked over besides Sarah to see how their meal was coming along. Sarah took notice as she peered over her shoulder.  
"You like cooking, Vanessa?"  
Vanessa hadn't been expecting the question. "Um… no, not really. I've never been much of a cook."  
"Oh, that's too bad. It's fun. I quite like it, but never have the opportunity to do it much." Sarah shook the frying pan back and forth a little. "We're almost done here. Why don't you sit down at the table?"  
Vanessa blinked. "We're not eating in the dining room?"  
"Nah, this is just a casual meal. That's for formalities."  
"Hmm. I see."  
"Sit down, please. Go ahead and make yourself at home, here."  
Vanessa sat down across from where Jacky was reading his paper, taking a quick glance at the headlines as she did so. The usual political blather and crime shock reporting, it seemed. After a moment or two, he walked over and sat down across from her.  
"So Sarah treated you well last night, then? I hear you got acquainted with the massage bath."  
"Yes, I did. It was a very pleasant experience."  
"Good, good. And your room?"  
"It's very nice. I think it's almost a little too much."  
Sarah walked over with a finished dish and set it in front of Vanessa. "Don't say that! We only want to be hospitable to a family friend." She set down silverware, a cup of coffee, and some cream as well. "If you want more, the coffeemaker is on the counter over there. Feel free to take as much as you want."  
"Thank you." Vanessa began to sip at her drink as Sarah ran over to fetch her and Jacky's portion. She then started on her meal, which proved to be as tasty as the pastries she was given the night before.  
Sarah sat down next to her brother and the two began their dining.  
"So, Vanessa, you have any hobbies?" said Sarah, swallowing a mouthful of food.  
"Hobbies?"  
"Yeah, you know. You play sports? Watch movies? Listen to music? Something like that."  
"Well, yes. But why do you ask?"  
Jacky spoke up. "We'd love to do stuff with you while you're here with us. Sarah suggested doing 'something fun' as a trio last night, so we wanted to ask you what sort of things you wanted to do."  
Vanessa shrugged and gulped down a bit more coffee. "I really don't know what's in this area, so… do you have someplace you like to go?"  
"Actually, we usually spend part of the afternoon training on Thursdays," said Sarah, slowly stirring some cream into her drink.   
Vanessa's ears perked at this. "Training?"  
"Yeah, I told you about our martial arts last night," Jacky chimed in, still chewing a little bit. "We have our mutual Jeet Kune Do practice a couple times a week together."  
"But, since you're here, we can skip today and spend it doing something you'd like instead." Sarah took another sip of coffee and smiled at Vanessa. "Do you have any general suggestions? It's about a half-hour drive into the city…"  
"Well, actually… I don't think I would mind seeing your training at all. In fact, I'd rather like to, if you wouldn't mind."  
"Oh?" Sarah's face showed her surprise. "Why's that? It's really not very interesting at all. You might get bored."  
"I don't think I mentioned it to you last night, but hand-to-hand combat is one of my areas of expertise. I do a lot of training and practice myself."  
"What? Really!" Sarah was intrigued now. "You too? That's so cool! So what do you practice?"  
"Well…" Vanessa took another bite, cleared her throat, and then continued on. "My father was a commander in a Special Forces unit. All of the soldiers there were given extensive training in a combat style called Vale Tudo." She paused and took another small sip of coffee. "So, that's what I learned. He and I trained together a lot when I was a teenager. But now, I've been working on it mostly on my own."  
"Vale Tudo, huh?" said Sarah, curious. "I think I've heard of it, but I don't know much about it."  
"The name's Brazilian in origin, I know…" said Jacky, walking over to the coffee brewer to refill his cup. He wasn't in the least bit surprised that Vanessa had some sort of hand-to-hand combat ability. In fact, given her credentials, he had expected it. "Could you explain it a little?  
"Um…it's a little bit difficult to describe. It's sort of a combination of a few things, and it's a bit more competitive than a lot of other fighting styles."   
"Yeah, there's tournaments and stuff for it, right?"  
Vanessa nodded in confirmation. "Most of the basics of what I learned originates from Brazilian Jiujutsu. My father and his friends instructed me in this form. I have done a little bit of competitive fighting, and picked up a few various bits and pieces from the others I sparred against and training. But that's just my individual style. Some people's Vale Tudo practice looks much different.   
She continued on. "When I was very, very young, too… I learned a bit of Muay Thai. I used to be able to perform in that style quite well. But right now…" she paused very briefly, trying to think of a way to describe her situation. "I guess you would say that I am in a period of transition. I'm not really happy with Muay Thai for… various reasons. So, I've been working on developing a different style using some elements of Muay Thai, but making more use of the principles that my father taught me."  
"Dang. You really ARE into this." Jacky set his mug down on the counter. "You've got me all intrigued about it now, Vanessa."  
"Oh? Well, if you want to ask other questions, feel free…"  
"Screw questions, I wanna SEE this." He walked back over to the table. "Would you mind giving us a demonstration, Vanessa?"  
She hesitated for a second. "Well, sure, if you'd like. It's no problem." Well, this may be an interesting experience, she thought to herself. I've never exactly TRAINED with my clients before…  
"In that case, coming to training with us is a great idea," said Sarah enthusiastically. "We can see your ability firsthand!"  
Jacky smiled. His sister had stated what was on his mind without even knowing it. The desire within had begun to climb… he just HAD to see what Vanessa's hand-to-hand was like in action.  
"Let's just hope my BROTHER here doesn't ruin it by acting like a doofus. He's prone to that," said Sarah, grinning.  
"HEY!"  
"It's true. It has been proven time and time again."  
Jacky pointed at his sister. "You see what I have to put up with every day? Thank God you're around now, maybe I can finally socialize with someone in this house who isn't a total OWWW!"  
Sarah had grabbed the collar of his T-shirt and was yanking it back towards her forcefully, giggling as she did so.   
Vanessa could see the closeness of the duo in their familial roughhousing, but felt the need to interrupt them anyway. "So, um, what sort of training are we doing?"  
Sarah's grip fell and her brother ceased his struggling. "Well, whatever you feel comfortable with," said Jacky, readjusting his shirt. "Sometimes me and Sarah just work out and discuss technique and form with each other, other times we go and practice skills we've been working on, and from time to time we've been known to spar with each other a little."  
"Oh? Sparring…" Something jogged a bit in Vanessa's mind.  
Jacky saw her gaze shift a little. "Yeah, sparring. What about it?"  
Vanessa quickly snapped back into focus. "I rather like the idea of sparring. Do you think it might be a possibility?"  
"Really? But you don't even know the sort of things we can do yet…"  
She shook her head. "That's OK. I think that'll make it an even better experience, don't you think?"  
"Hmmm, you're right," Jacky conceded. "Well then, that's how we'll train today, then. You and me, and then you and Sarah…"  
"Actually, I'm not sure if I'm really up for sparring today," said Sarah, shifting in her seat a little. "I want to train, still, but…"  
"Oh, I see." He leaned towards Vanessa and whispered intentionally loudly. "Looks like it's THAT TIME again."  
Jacky's accusations were met with a quick thwap on his head with the back of a fork.  
"Owwwwww!"  
  
Jacky felt a strange anticipation as he headed towards the gymnasium that afternoon. He had changed out of his usual jeans-and-shirt ensemble into his workout clothing. He had spent the morning doing work while Sarah had been showing Vanessa their private training center. Work usually wasn't too much of a bother to him, but the hours had seemed to drag from knowing what was to come later in the day.  
It was over now, though. It was time to see just what that woman was made of…  
He drew in a heavy breath as he pushed open the door to the gym, looking for the two ladies. There was his sister towards the left, suited for practice in her typical stretchy, shiny blue spandex workout suit. But where was Vanessa? His gaze drifted across to the other side of the room. There, stretching out her legs, was a tan-skinned figure wearing a set of black, gold-embroidered shorts and a similarly dark sports bra…  
Oh my god.   
His jaw almost hit the floor. He walked ever closer to her, his attention transfixed.  
The other times he had seen Vanessa, she was wearing either a uniform or the simple outfit she had put on earlier today, which had covered up most of her body. But now, her figure stood mostly exposed, and it was an impressive sight. Jacky had expected a strong woman, but never had he imagined anything like this….  
A female body, designed almost purely for combat. Vanessa's arms were heavily built, their ligament very thinly visible through her darkened skin. Her shoulders and back were toned in a powerful physique, and layers of muscle rippled down her abdomen into her legs. And her legs… the energy they contained was obvious, with her thick hips and smooth, firm, curved calves standing tall, supporting the rest of the pillar of strength that stood before him.  
Jacky's heart began to race as he looked over her impeccably athletic form, realizing fully now what he was going up against. He knew she was capable – nobody would be in an organization like the SP that wasn't – but this… this was something he had never anticipated…  
"Wow," he mouthed, totally stunned, eyes still transfixed.  
"Hmmm?" Sarah walked over to meet him.  
Jacky snapped out of his trance. Shit, he must have spoken aloud without realizing it! "Um..." By now the two were staring at him, piqued curiosity visible in their combined gazes. "Er…" he scratched the back of his neck nervously, trying to think of what to say… "Well… what I mean is…" He looked up towards Vanessa. "Vanessa, you… you have an incredible body."  
Vanessa's face widened in surprise, unsure how to take his comment, as his sister's eyes narrowed in irritation. "Excuse me, brother?" she inquired, anger pervading her voice.  
Jacky realized the two had understood him the wrong way. "Ah, no, no, no! That's… that's not really what I meant…" He walked slowly over to Vanessa and set his hands upon her broad shoulders.  
He slowly slid his hands down her arms, feeling the form of her thickened muscles, squeezing softly, trying to gauge the strength contained within. "You look so… so… what's the word…?"  
Vanessa stood still, trying to hide her discomfort at Jacky's touch. She was more than used to people being impressed by her body – it had been this way since she was a teenager. But never had anyone been this DIRECT before… She resisted the urge to rudely throw his arms off her. He was her employer, after all, and it's not like he was trying to do anything funny…  
Jacky suddenly felt the hard press of his sister's elbow into the side of his waist. "Jacky, you're EMBARASSING her!" she hissed loudly.  
He looked up at Vanessa's face, and then quickly stepped back. "Oh god… I'm… I'm sorry, Vanessa, I didn't mean to…"  
Wait, how did Sarah know? Vanessa thought to herself. She then realized the heat radiating from her face. That must have given it away…  
Sarah returned to Vanessa's side. "See, what did I tell you?" she half-whispered, elbowing Vanessa gently in the side. "Is he dorky or what?"  
Knowing that it was a rhetorical question, Vanessa looked back at Sarah for a brief second in response. Slightly unnerved, she faced Jacky again. "So, what are the terms of this?" she asked.  
"Well," Jacky started, still attempting to regain his composure, "here's what I usually do in practice rounds. I'm not going to do anything that would really hurt you. I'll take some swings at you, but I'm not going to use the sort of force in them that I would in a real fight. I might put you into a few grabs and holds, but I'm not going to follow through all the way with them. I ask that you please do the same."  
Vanessa nodded. "That sounds very reasonable."  
"Keep in mind, even though this isn't a real battle, and I'm deliberately going to restrain some force, it will get rather rough. You probably will wind up with some scrapes and bruises. Is that OK? " Why am I even bothering to ask? he thought to himself. She looks like she could handle much more than a few blows…  
"No, it's fine. I've done things like this many times in the past."  
"You'll do the same?"  
She nodded again.  
"And I'll be referee!" chimed Sarah from the background.  
Jacky turned back at her. "We need a referee for sparring?"  
"Sure, why not?"  
"We've never used one before. What would you do?"  
"I yell GO to get you to start."  
"That's all?"  
"Well, in case you get your ass pounded, I'm the first to dial 911."  
"Um, I don't think that's necessary."  
"You never know," Sarah replied, grinning widely.  
Jacky shook his head and smiled back. "Alrighty, you get to start the round. That OK with you, Vanessa?"  
Vanessa nodded. "That's fine."  
Sarah looked back and forth between the two. "So, you guys wanna start now, or do you want to warm up a little?"  
"Gimme a sec." Jacky walked back and did several quick arm circles to stretch out a little. "That should be OK for now."  
"That's all you're going to do?"  
"I'm ALWAYS ready to go," he said, with a goofy smirk on his face.  
Sarah responded with a puzzled glance before turning face. "And you, Vanessa?"  
"We've been here for a while, Sarah. I think I'm pretty well prepared."  
"Alright, then. Vanessa, please take your place here," said Sarah, walking over to a spot a few feet away from Jacky and tapping it with her foot. Vanessa followed and assumed position as Sarah backed away from the two. She stared intently at Jacky, whose facial expression had suddenly taken on seriousness and concentration. Focus yourself, she thought. It's best to leave a good impression.  
"At my voice, you two begin. Understood?"  
The pair nodded, still gazing intently at each other.  
"OK then. Get ready…"  
Vanessa immediately leapt into her fighting stance, hopping lightly on the tips of her toes. Jacky followed suit, swaying his body slightly back and forth.  
"GO!"  
At the sound of Sarah's voice, Jacky quickly lunged forward and stretched his arm to strike at Vanessa with a Beat Knuckle. Only a light swing… if he put too much force into it, he could leave her considerably injured. The arc of his swing was aimed precisely to hit at the side of her midsection, knocking her off her balance.  
Her instincts quickly kicked in. Within a fraction of a second she had snatched Jacky's incoming strike, holding his wrist in a firm grip.  
Jacky was absolutely stunned. She probably saw that attack coming, but how did she manage to react so quickly? He stood for a second or two flabbergasted by the whole situation. Then, a realization hit him hard: You have to get out of this, Jacky. If you ever stalled like this in a real fight, the opponent would take advantage of it.   
He worked to struggle free of her hold, trying to wrench his wrist out of Vanessa's grip. Just as he felt himself begin to slip free, he was greeted by a blow from her leg to the side of his midsection.  
"Oof!" It wasn't a very hard strike, he just hadn't been expecting it. He'd been too focused on trying to break away from her handhold. As he quickly regained his composure, he finally managed to free himself from her grasp with several fast, strong tugs of his arm.   
Shit… now I know one thing I most definitely need to work on.  
There was no time to reflect, though. Not knowing what she would do next, he stepped forward and lunged out with his arm, hitting her lightly. He stood in this position for a brief moment, delaying his second strike to hit just as she regained composure from the previous blow.  
Now it was Vanessa's turn to be hit by something she didn't expect. She had been preparing a small counterstrike, only to be knocked to the floor by a strong upwards kick. He was hitting a bit harder than she expected – nothing that would sting for too long, though. It didn't bother her one bit.  
The two flashed a glare into each other's eyes for only a second, but it was enough to get the message – they both knew that this fight was going to be full of surprises.  
Not wanting to have his punch caught again, he struck Vanessa with a light kick first, and then a quick back knuckle. Her guard of these attacks came too late to be of benefit to her, but she didn't seem particularly affected. She merely shifted back a little and lashed out with a sidekick, countering the next technique Jacky had begun to move into.  
Jacky, expertly regaining his composure from the surprise hit, quickly spun around backwards, thrusting his arm forth so that the back of his fist would strike Vanessa. She easily braced herself for the blow. However, she failed to anticipate Jacky's next movement. Within a blink of an eye he had spun back around in the opposite direction, shifting his weight and his striking arm to aim at her lower body. His hit succeeded on knocking her down onto the floor. She braced herself for the fall and quickly rolled to the side, only to be met with another spin kick as she rose, taking her down again by complete surprise. Vanessa hit the ground with a very tiny thud. As she regathered herself and got up, she lashed her leg up towards Jacky, hoping to hit him as retaliation for her knockdown. Sensing her attack coming, he blocked it easily. Vanessa knew he was going to try something as soon as he guarded against her kick. The moment both of her feet touched the ground again, she shifted away to the side.  
She moved just in time. The displaced air from a missed flipkick blew into her face as she barely dodged out of the way. Seeing a window of opportunity that would be dangerous to pass up, Vanessa rushed in as Jacky landed on the ground, and greeted him with three quick elbow strikes to his chest, knocking him to the floor.  
That was stupid of me, Jacky thought, quickly working to get back up and face her again. As she attempted to swing a punch at him, he quickly hopped backwards to dodge, then lunged forward with a wide, high sword kick. Vanessa took the blow and was knocked back, but quickly worked to recover herself in time to block his elbow.  
She attempted a counterstrike by aiming at Jacky's lower body. He guarded her low punch easily, but, expecting to counter another low assault, he was taken by surprise as Vanessa rose from her crouch with a sharp, cutting attack to his face. He stumbled onto his back, quickly working to get back on his feet as she speedily dashed over to him. Just as he regained his footing, Jacky was stunned by a quick, hard blow to his face. He hadn't been expecting something so sudden. Before he even knew it, his footing was knocked out from underneath him, sending him down to the ground. But something held him in his fall… As he had been recovering from the stun of her blow, she had stepped behind him and wrapped her muscular arms around his neck. He could feel their strength in full as their vicelike grip carefully tightened.   
He knew what was intended to come next… in this position, a quick twist of Vanessa's arms and she would severely injure his neck - maybe even break it. A sudden rush of fright and adrenaline pumped through him. He was completely at her mercy! If for some reason she decided to break the honor code now… god alone knew how he could suffer…  
His fear proved unfounded, as she quickly released her hold and backed off, dropping Jacky to the ground, backing away.  
Stalling for a brief second on the ground, he quickly decided he didn't ever want to be on the receiving end of that in a real fight. Then, becoming aware of his heightened vulnerability, he quickly began to roll away.  
This had become a bit rougher than he thought. But was that a bad thing…?  
Seeing Jacky rise again, Vanessa decided to try something interesting. She took a large jump towards Jacky, whirling around with her leg outstretched as she did so, looking to hit his upper body and shatter his guard with the well-placed blow.  
What she failed to anticipate, though, was Jacky ducking just below the reach of her spinkick.  
It was too late to react. As Vanessa landed, she saw Jacky quickly dash behind her. She felt his blow upon the back of her neck, knocking her down to the ground. He had seen the opportunity, and seized it well. Lying on the ground for a few seconds, trying to catch her breath, she rolled onto her back, looking up at him, still breathing heavily.  
"Well… you got me." She coughed a little. "You win this time, Jacky."  
Without saying a word, he leaned over and extended his hand down to her. She grabbed ahold of it and used his extra leverage to push herself back onto her feet, the two of them still panting heavily. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and threw her hair back before turning to face Jacky again.  
"Now," she said, with a smile breaking onto her lips, "THAT was fun."  
Jacky smiled back and nodded. "So true…" he said, staring at her face. He hadn't seen an expression so warm and pleasant upon her before this…  
She really is beautiful when she smiles, he thought.  
"Hmmm, this didn't go as well as I wished it would have, though." Her smile began to dissipate. "I only got to try a few things that I've been working on, and even those I messed up…"  
"Really?"  
She nodded.   
"I would have never guessed that until you said it. Honestly, Vanessa, you are an excellent fighter. The whole time we were sparring, you kept me on my toes. Not many people can do that."  
"I… surprised you?"  
"Yeah, in fact, you scared the living bejeezus out of me a couple times. Hell, when you had your arms clamped around my neck I felt like you could have KILED me. I'm not sure what exactly you didn't show us, but if it's anything like you did just now, I'm sure it's some incredible technique."  
She turned away from him and shrugged. "I just need more practice, I guess."  
"I hope you do keep practicing," Sarah suddenly chimed in from the background, walking towards them. "That was one of the most interesting bouts I've seen in a long time. Vanessa, you've really got something going there."  
"Damn right she does," Jacky added. "We're definitely going to have to do this more in the future. It'll be good for the both of us, don't you think so, Vanessa?"  
"HEY! What about me? Do I have no right to practice with our guest?" said Sarah, looking annoyed.  
"Erm… I suppose if you really want to."  
"Of COURSE I want to. You should know better."  
Jacky sighed. "I guess I should," he said, with a small chuckle. "You really enjoy this sort of thing. Almost too much…"  
Sarah went back over to Vanessa's side and put her hand on her shoulder, shaking it lightly. "Vanessa, we should do fun stuff together in the future! Like sparring, and… well… other stuff. You know."   
Vanessa looked straight into Sarah's smiling face, and then back at Jacky, who nodded affirmatively at how well Sarah and Vanessa were already getting along.  
"I think I will be able to learn quite a lot from both of you," she said, with another very faint smile…  
  
--NOTES--  
  
It's finally here, and I hope it's passable. It also marks the appearance of actual fighting! W00t! I tried to draw from actual in-game experience in writing – I wonder if that shows through or not. ^^;  
  
Chapter 4 is up as well. It's a definite (though merely temporary) change in mood that might disturb some particularly sensitive souls. But I think it's for the best, as I wrote it for the intent of further character development. Input is much welcomed. 


	4. Vision

WARNING: This chapter has some elements that a few readers may find disturbing. Just to let you know.   
  
---------------  
  
Vanessa stood alone in the Bryant courtyard, looking over the vast expanse of foliage in their family garden. She walked slowly, staring at the garden that surrounded her. It seemed bigger than she had remembered it – yes, the family did have a big, elegant garden with rows of lovely flowers and nicely kempt, exotic shrubbery – but it wasn't quite the same as she recollected. Maybe it wasn't exactly bigger, or maybe she just hadn't been there long enough to tell, but something about it did seem different than usual.  
Then, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye – something moving amongst the rows of bushes. She walked closer and looked carefully, trying to spot what she may have seen earlier. And yet, there was nothing to be seen. Probably just a small animal, she thought to herself.  
A brief second later, she heard a soft noise off to her left side, an unusual disturbance in the typically quiet garden. And then again, another sound, this one larger. Looking over her shoulder, she again turned to see nothing beyond the ordinary. But something had definitely been there, she knew it – and it was much larger than a small animal.  
"Is someone here?" Vanessa yelled. No response. Complete silence resumed as she continued to survey her surroundings.  
Then, all but a moment later, another series of noises sounded. She couldn't tell immediately where the noise was coming from, but it was most definitely something big.  
Instinctively, her hands went to the gun at her side. She slowly drew it, reminding herself not to take any sort of rash action she might regret. That was one of the most important rules of her profession.  
Then, suddenly, something yanked Vanessa's entire body backwards and shook furiously. Taken completely by surprise, her weapon slipped from her grip onto the ground below. She tried to struggle against whatever it was that had pulled her backwards, but the force had the element of surprise on its hands. She felt her arms being jerked around in back of her. Then, she was let go, and she fell on her back to the ground.  
Attempting to move her arms, Vanessa found that her hands had been bound together behind her. She tugged with all her strength to escape from her bonds, but whatever they were, they were incredibly strong. They dug painfully into her arms as she struggled against them.  
A figure appeared in front of her. His body shape and structure gave the impression of an able-bodied man. Though she tried to look closely at him, she could not see his face, which was shadowed by a hood attached to a jacket he was wearing. The figure bent over and slowly picked up the gun that she had held a moment before.  
"My… how dangerous. Nice girls like you shouldn't be carrying such nasty things around." Hovering over her body, he bent down and looked her over. Despite him being closer, any distinguishing features were still impossible for Vanessa to make out. He was like a shadow, fuzzy and vague…  
"Then again, you're not such a nice one, are you? So aggressive…"  
She continued to struggle. "Who the hell are you, and what have you bound me up with?"  
Vanessa was greeted with a hard slap to the face. "I don't want anything from you, girl, or you're going to regret it very quickly."  
To most other women, such a blow would have easily dizzied them. But to a woman trained in combat as she was, it was nothing more than a sharp sting. She turned back to face the figure, her face contorted with anger and pain. "Listen to me, as–mmmmppph!"  
The barrel of the gun forcefully slid between her lips, over the top of her tongue, as she tried to speak. A bitter taste of metal and gunpowder filled her mouth. The realization swept through her mind that if her assailant were to pull the trigger, she would most certainly be killed… For the first time in years, Vanessa felt an overwhelming, terrified fear mounting inside of her. Panicked tears began to flow from her eyes, even as she tried her hardest to repress them.  
"Now, I don't want you to be troublesome," he said, keeping his hand still. "You're with one of the Organization's best here…"   
He yanked the gun out of her mouth, leaving her gasping for air. Then, as she was still catching her breath, he pressed its tip against her throat. Vanessa held her body perfectly still and tried to refrain from gagging as she felt the cold discomfort of the weapon's tip pressing directly underneath her chin.  
"But you're quite a special one, aren't you? You and your, how-you-say, family… they've caused us quite a bit of trouble over for a long time. They trained you and took care of you so well, since you got away. I see you've made it your life's work to stop us… how precious." He chuckled condescendingly, staring directly at the disadvantaged Vanessa. "But I suppose your primary motive is to avenge your daddy, yes?"  
He ran the gun barrel down from her throat as he spoke, pressing it against her as it traveled down the length of her body.  
"He wasn't even your real father, was he? And yet you're so attached to him…"  
As he moved the weapon further and further, he finally paused for a brief moment. Vanessa wondered what he was doing, why he was waiting… then, she screamed in shock as she felt it suddenly press hard against a most sensitive place.  
He lowered his face closer to hers as she writhed about, so she could finally see what he looked like… and it was a horrifying sight. He appeared almost reptilian, disfigured with scars across his eyes and cheeks, his eyebrow and lower lip pierced with sharp, shining silver metal. His dark, bluish colored hair was slicked back in sharp spikes towards the back of his head. He barely even looked human…  
The assailant smiled at her cries of anguish, taking on a demonic visage as his lips curled. "I remember killing him," he said, in a voice of fond recollection. "He was not that old, you know… such a shame he passed away so young. He didn't even see it coming. Just a quick shot through the head – in one ear and out the other, and the brains just came spurting out... almost like a scene from a movie. But this was real. It was really something quite amusing to see, even compared to all the others…"  
By now Vanessa had totally lost control, and tears stained her cheeks as she continued to scream out. She attempted to speak words against her assailant, but no matter how she tried, all that could escape her lips were shouts of terror…  
Suddenly, her captor unexpectedly dropped the gun he had held, and instead removed a small knife from his pocket. Pressing against the inside of her right leg, spreading it outwards, he began to draw the blade toward her. She attempted to press back against him, but her powerful muscles were failing her, and she could not even find the strength to resist. Quickly, he took the blade and cut through the inside stitching of her right thigh, next to the crotch of her pants. Though he was working the blade speedily, it seemed that he was being careful not to damage the skin underneath…   
Vanessa's screaming ceased in shock as it suddenly dawned upon her that he was not going to kill her. He had other intentions.  
Only simple hushed words were able to escape from her lips as she felt her body go numb from fear.  
"No… no!"  
His voice was tinged with a sick pleasure as his hand ran inside the newly opened hole in the fabric he had created, sharply tugging at it from the inside.  
"However… I think I'll enjoy myself much more taking you."  
  
Vanessa woke up in her bedroom with her heart pounding precipitously inside her and her entire body coated in a heated sweat. Her breaths were long and heavy, and her entire body had tensed up so greatly that she could feel blood pumping through her muscles. She looked back down at the bedsheets beneath her, and noticed they were visibly soaked with her perspiration.  
She lay down again, her body trembling with fear from the nightmare, still responding with panic to the violation that had seemed almost certain would occur. The thought of it was almost too much to handle… not just allowing herself to be taken advantage of, but by one who had so brutally taken the life of the only parent she ever knew…   
It was a disgrace to his memory.   
Her sticky hands clutched angrily at the sheets below as rage tore through her physique. It was simply unbearable… the emotion was completely overtaking her. It was only a dream, but the effect was immense and unbearable. Tears began to well in Vanessa's eyes as she thought of her father, who she had loved more than anything. He had done everything he could for her sake… teaching her, training her in his combat skills, exposing her to the joys of life, and destroying the emotional barrier within her… But more than anything, he had given her the complete devotion of his heart and soul, from the very moment he had first taken her in his arms. She still remembered his embrace, the gentle touch of his warm body, and the sound of his heart beating within him. She would never be able to hear it again.  
She had to destroy THEM… for his sake…   
Her right arm grabbed furiously at the small counter that lay directly next to the bed, upon which lay a small clock, a memo pad, and a few personal items. Fumbling around, struggling to see through her soaked, blurry vision, she finally found what she needed – the dogtags her father had worn on that day, the one thing they had been able to recover from his bloody, broken body. Sobbing deeply, she clutched the small pieces of metal tightly against her chest, feeling the heavy thrusts of her own heart pounding against them through her skin. A rush of warmth pumped through her veins as she focused on the emotion.  
Soft words escaped from Vanessa's lips through her cries as she closed her eyes, flushing out her tears. "I… I lo…ve……you….. al…ways…."  
  
--NOTES--  
  
Jeez, this was hard to write. It's difficult to see a character you really like suffer. Unless you're one of those people who gets off on angst. But I'm not like that. I don't like my characters suffering without a damn good reason.   
So why did I write this, then? I wrote this scene because I wanted to reveal more about Vanessa's character. She is a very powerful and brave woman, but she is not perfect, and she is bound to have flaws, weaknesses, and fears that she keeps locked up within her. (Fanfic about flawless favorite characters are terribly boring and almost sickening to read, I think. At worst, they become the dreaded Mary Sue.) We know Vanessa isn't the sort of person who would sit around and angst over her past constantly. She's a take-charge-take-action type woman. Still, I think, on occasion, something's gotta give…  
I think I touched upon a bit of this already in previous chapters, but I wanted to emphasize it some more. In the course of planning the story, I started thinking about what sort of fears she would have, and what would constitute her nightmares. From there this dream sequence arose.  
Memories and feelings that result from this nightmare are going to come into play later, so don't just write it off…  
  
I am considering working on other VF-related fan projects at the moment, and if anything comes of the ideas I have, I will be sure make a note of it. I've also given consideration to writing fanfic for other games I like, too. I recently got Panzer Dragoon Orta for the Xbox, and it's such a profoundly beautiful game in every aspect. Playing it recently, I've remembered how much I absolutely love the series and ideas for short stories I've had based upon it. Who knows, maybe there will be Panzer fic in the future from me.  
  
For the meantime, though, I've got another big fic idea in the works. It takes place in a timeframe before this story, and involves a crossover with AM2's newest masterpiece. Keep watch sometime in the future for Virtua Fighter/Virtua Cop: Operation Donpachi!  
  
And remember: VF4 Evolution, out now for the Japanese PS2 and coming this summer for Europe and North America. Buy it. Play it. Love it. 


	5. Interlude Speak of the Devil

He sat alone in his room, waiting. He lived alone in a large space within one of the organization's many housing complexes – that is, when he wasn't doing travel for… work.  
  
Currently, he was preoccupied with a beautiful utility knife that he had acquired from the subject of one of his "business meetings." It was obviously a rare, premium tool, with expensive jewels and lacquer inset within the silver handle, and various blades and saws sharp enough to cut metal. He had developed a particular fondness for it from the very onset, and was now using it to carve a sculpture of sort out of a hunk of wood.  
  
It was then that he heard the footsteps coming down the hall, approaching his room. There were very few times when people would come to see HIM, as opposed to the other way around. And when they did, he almost always knew what they wanted of him…  
  
The door slid open slowly. After a pause of a few seconds, a clear voice called through the air.  
  
"Hinogami."  
  
At the sound of his name, he dropped his playthings, and turned his pale, scarred face towards his superior. "Yes, sir."  
  
"We have a new operation for you."  
  
He pulled down the hood of his jacket from his head to see more clearly, his many silver piercings shining faintly in the dim light. "I see…"  
  
"However, you should know that the procedures will be slightly different than usual. We will require you to gather information on a woman whom we want to… bring into our care."  
  
Goh was surprised at this. "This… is not an assassination?"  
  
"No, it is not. You are not to kill any of the family. To do so at this moment would endanger our interests. We only wish to discover the mental status of our subject and the best way we can reach out to her. However…"  
  
"… yes, sir?"  
  
"They certainly know about us, and may have taken additional security measures. In this case, you are to deal with this security by any means possible… as long as it's not messy or conspicuous."  
  
His fingernails scraped the carpet idly. "So… you want me to act as a spy…"  
  
"Of sorts, yes."  
  
"But why, sir?" Goh said, confused. He wasn't one to question authority, but this made little sense. "Isn't an espionage person better for this?"  
  
His superior seemed mildly annoyed. "Hinogami, do you not remember the tournament which we are planning to send you to?"  
  
"…yes. I do, sir."  
  
"This family will be participating there. We will commence our main operation during that time. We have planned far in advance to send you to this tournament, as well."  
  
Goh nodded.  
  
"They will be among your fiercest opponents there. Besides simply gathering information for our future preparations, you can learn about your upcoming competition. And, there is also the potential security problem, as we mentioned before. We know that you have exceptional skills in handling… obstacles."  
  
There were other reasons, of course, but not even the most skilled soldiers within the J6 organization knew the full motives behind what the leaders commanded of them.  
  
"We shall make preparations for your departure to America very soon, Hinogami. I trust that you will perform the excellent work we have come to expect from you."  
  
Goh pulled the hood back over his dark, bluish-colored hair. "Yes, sir. I will carry out the task as best I can." He didn't have much choice as to whether or not to accept the jobs he was offered, nor did he even think to turn it down. J6 was his life, his meaning, his world…  
  
"Good. I shall leave you, then. In the meantime, we ask that you work to refine your training for this new task. You shall not disappoint us, Hinogami."  
  
As the man left, Goh picked up the knife and resumed working where he left off. He paused for a brief moment, and looked out the window into the night sky. The way it shone through the curtains upon his window projected a soft, silver-colored light upon him. It was a hue he particularly liked…   
  
A blurred memory from long ago came into his mind with the passing breeze, suddenly unearthing itself after many years of inactivity. It was weeks after he had barely escaped being killed with the rest of his family, and after the operative had found him…  
  
As he sat in the basement room with a group of other youths that had been taken into J6's care, he saw a group of researchers walking down a nearby hallway. They were carting a large table with a clear dome upon it with them. This wasn't unusual in and of itself – save for what was inside.  
  
Within was an unconscious young girl, several years younger than he. He didn't know then what they were doing with her, but one thing immediately struck him – her shining, silver tresses, strewn about as she lay oblivious. The light in the hall caught upon them in such a way that it shown almost a pure, bright white, like the pendant he was wearing today… but for a brief moment, as she and her escorts passed out of sight.  
  
He never saw them again.  
  
It was something he had forgotten for many, many years, and had suddenly come into his mind. As blurred and messy as many of his old memories were, the hair of the young girl stood out as a detail which, even stored deep within the recesses of his mind, he could not possibly forget.  
  
Goh folded the knife back up and rose from his sitting position. He walked slowly over to the window, and stopped next to its frame, looking outside.   
  
It did seem strange that the past had come so prominently into his mind when he learned more of the future… 


	6. Announcement 113003

Sorry for the delay in this chapter coming. I had one draft of chapter five mostly finished but then lost it in a rather ugly disk error. There's nothing that really kills your inspiration than losing a lot of work you did previously. But fear not, though it may take a long time, I will not abandon this story. I started up again on Chapter five recently, and just to let you know that I'm still at work on this, I'm going to put up the introductory snipped. I'll take it down and post the whole chapter when it's complete. Thanks for your continued support .  
  
Vanessa's mind was a haze.   
  
She didn't know what time it was, but the slightly orangeish hue of the sky outside her window indicated that it still must be fairly early. All she knew was that despite her rest, she was exhausted. Why was that…?  
  
As she slowly began to regain her full conciousness, the memories of her vivid nightmare hours beforehand came flooding back into her mind. A feeling of icy coldness shot through her body, causing her to shiver and clutch the covers tightly.  
  
Looking to her left side, she saw part of the chain to her father's dogtags peeking out from beneath the covers. She must have drifted back to sleep still holding them…  
  
Grabbing the chain carefully, she leaned over and set the metal pendant back upon her bedside table, then plopped back down onto the mattress with a heavy sigh. Right now, all Vanessa wanted was to drift back into sleep for a little while and wipe the residue of last night's experience clean from her mind.  
  
Unfortunately, she came to notice a new but annoyingly familiar ache in her abdomen - notifying her that she was going to have to get out of bed immediately to do at least ONE thing.  
  
"Damn it…" she mumbled through clenched teeth as she quickly rolled off the bed, grabbing the articles she needed as she dashed out the door.  
  
Sarah sat on the couch in one of the large living rooms, flipping through channels furiously. Morning talk and news shows were a routine for her, but she wanted to hear about things she was actually interested in, as opposed to the constant political babble that had been crowding the airwaves as of late. She finally settled in on a station presenting some current movie reviews.  
  
As she set down the remote and picked up her coffee, Sarah was surprised Vanessa walking down the hallway, holding a glass of water in her left hand and fumbling around with something-or-other in her right. Vanessa's presence was in the house is definitely going to take some getting used to, she thought, as she turned to greet her.  
  
"Good morning, Vanessa. Wow, you're up early today."  
  
Vanessa stopped, facing towards Sarah. "Good morning to you, too." She sighed. "Yes… I had a very rough time sleeping last night. I didn't manage much rest at all."  
  
"Really? I'd have thought you would have been exhausted. I mean, that was some pretty hard training you did before."  
  
Vanessa shrugged in response. "I would have thought so too, but… I guess sometimes 'extraneous factors' can get in the way."  
  
"Uh huh. I see." Sarah scooted over and pat the sofa padding next to her. "You can sit down here if you want."  
  
Vanessa nodded, setting her glass of water down on the glass table in front as she continued to work with the object in her hand - a small piece of plastic and foil casing with two tablets inside. With a hard press of her thumb, the pills burst from their confines and landed upon the table with a soft little plinking sound.  
  
Sarah's curiosity was piqued. "What are you-" she stopped her question abruptly, as she noticed the familiar name on the tablets. "Oh, um…"  
  
Vanessa took the pills in one hand, and picked up the glass with the other. "Yes?"  
  
"Well, uh…" Sarah's voice dulled into a whisper. "I see it's a bad time for you, so… if you, er, *need anything*, I can show you where it's at…"  
  
Vanessa popped the capsules into her mouth and took a swig of water as Sarah spoke. "Don't worry, I've got what I need," she replied in a casual tone. "But why are you whispering?"  
  
Sarah's face went a little red at this. "Uh, well… This isn't really something I would normally go about in casual conversation if Jacky was around." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh wait, what AM I doing? He ISN'T around today!" she exclaimed, mock slapping herself on the head. "Duh!"   
  
This was obviously new information to Vanessa. "Jacky isn't here today?"  
  
"Yeah. He's got a business meeting to attend to." Sarah smiled. "I forgot all about that. I was wondering why I hadn't seen him around…"   
  
"Any idea what for?"   
  
Sarah shook her head. "I think it's a shareholder meeting of someplace one of our groups is affiliated with."   
  
Damn. Without Jacky around, Vanessa wouldn't know if she was doing something he didn't want her to do…   
  
"It certainly must be troublesome to have him take off like that, just on a moment's notice."   
  
"Actually… he hasn't done something like this in a LONG time. It's almost a relief not to have to share the house, even for only the span of a day."   
  
"You really think so?"   
  
She nodded. "Trust me, Vanessa. This is a GREAT thing."   
  
Vanessa was puzzled. "Why's that?"   
  
"Because… we can have our very own girls' day out, that's why!" Sarah replied, with an excited sparkle evident within her big, blue eyes.   
  
"A… girl's day out, huh…" Vanessa had a suspicion she knew what was going on - Jacky would never have been able to leave Sarah alone for an extended period of time without her around. Did he really have a meeting to go to? Or was he simply trying to leave the two alone so Vanessa could learn a bit more about her protectee?   
  
"There's a very well-known shopping suburb not more than 45 minutes from here. I can have us driven out there with nothing more than a simple phone call," Sarah said, interrupting her thoughts. 


End file.
